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Publications
  • February 6, 2021
  • Editorial
  • The Atlantic (website)

The Chinese Debt Trap Is a Myth: The Narrative Wrongfully Portrays Both Beijing and the Developing Countries It Deals With.

By: Deborah Brautigam and Meg Rithmire
  • Format:Electronic
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Abstract

Our research shows that Chinese banks are willing to restructure the terms of existing loans and have never actually seized an asset from any country, much less the port of Hambantota. A Chinese company’s acquisition of a majority stake in the port was a cautionary tale, but it’s not the one we’ve often heard. With a new administration in Washington, the truth about the widely, perhaps willfully, misunderstood case of Hambantota Port is long overdue.

Keywords

Financing and Loans; Developing Countries and Economies; International Relations; China

Citation

Brautigam, Deborah, and Meg Rithmire. "The Chinese Debt Trap Is a Myth: The Narrative Wrongfully Portrays Both Beijing and the Developing Countries It Deals With." The Atlantic (website) (February 6, 2021).
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About The Author

Meg Rithmire

Business, Government and the International Economy
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • April 2022
    • Comparative Politics

    Going Out or Opting Out? Capital, Political Vulnerability, and the State in China's Outward Investment

    By: Meg Rithmire
    • December 2021
    • Faculty Research

    Lattice Semiconductor and the Future of Chinese High-Tech Acquisitions in the United States

    By: Meg Rithmire
    • China Quarterly

    The Emergence of Mafia-like Business Systems in China

    By: Meg Rithmire and Hao Chen
More from the Authors
  • Going Out or Opting Out? Capital, Political Vulnerability, and the State in China's Outward Investment By: Meg Rithmire
  • Lattice Semiconductor and the Future of Chinese High-Tech Acquisitions in the United States By: Meg Rithmire
  • The Emergence of Mafia-like Business Systems in China By: Meg Rithmire and Hao Chen
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