Asked to comment on a report by Australia’s Lowy Institute, which claimed that developing countries are under mounting fiscal pressure due to record-high debt repayments to China this year and that China may try to use these countries as geopolitical leverage, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Tuesday that she was not aware of the specific situation or the basis of the report, but emphasized that China’s investment and financing cooperation with developing countries follows international norms, market rules, and the principle of debt sustainability.
A few countries are spreading the so-called “China debt responsibility” theory, while ignoring the fact that multilateral financial institutions and commercial creditors in developed countries are the main creditors and sources of pressure for debt repayments in developing countries. “What I want to say is that lies cannot cover up the truth, and justice is in the hearts of the people,” the spokesperson said.
Global Times
