World

World’s poorest countries pushed to brink of collapse under China debt

Published

3 years ago

May 25, 2023

At least a dozen poor countries are buckling under the weight of hundreds of billions of dollars in debt, most of which is owed to China.

A recent analysis, carried out by the Associated Press, found that for a dozen countries, paying back their debt is consuming a growing amount of their tax revenue needed to keep basic services going.

Among the countries analyzed was Pakistan, Kenya, Zambia, Laos and Mongolia and it was found that paying back their debt is also draining foreign currency reserves that these countries use to pay interest on the loans – leaving some with just months before that money is gone.

AP reported that behind the scenes is China’s reluctance to forgive debt and its extreme secrecy about how much money it has loaned and on what terms, which has kept other major lenders from stepping in to help.

According to World Bank data analyzed by Statista recently, countries heavily in debt to China are mostly located in Africa, but can also be found in Central Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

And, Statista reports that the new Belt and Road Initiative, which finances the construction of port, rail and land infrastructure, has created much debt to China for participating countries, specifically poor countries.

As of March last year, 215 cooperation documents had been signed with 149 countries on the initiative.

Countries in AP’s analysis meanwhile had as much as 50% of their foreign loans from China and most were devoting more than a third of government revenue to paying off foreign debt.

Two of them, Zambia and Sri Lanka, have already gone into default, unable to make even interest payments on loans financing the construction of ports, mines and power plants.

In Pakistan, millions of textile workers have been laid off because the country has too much foreign debt and can’t afford to keep the electricity on and machines running, AP stated.

In Kenya, the government has held back paychecks to thousands of civil service workers to save cash to pay foreign loans. The president’s chief economic adviser tweeted last month, “Salaries or default? Take your pick.”

The study also found that since Sri Lanka defaulted a year ago, a half-million industrial jobs have vanished, inflation has risen by 50% and more than half the population in many parts of the country has fallen into poverty.

The study found that experts predict that unless China begins to soften its stance on its loans to poor countries, there could be a wave of more defaults and political upheavals.

AP’s report stated that a case study of how it has played out is in Zambia, a landlocked country of 20 million people in southern Africa that over the past two decades has borrowed billions of dollars from Chinese state-owned banks to build dams, railways and roads.

While the loans boosted Zambia’s economy, they also raised foreign interest payments so high that there was little left for the government, forcing it to cut spending on healthcare, social services and subsidies to farmers for seed and fertilizer.

In the past under such circumstances, big government lenders such as the U.S., Japan and France would work out deals to forgive some debt, with each lender disclosing clearly what they were owed and on what terms so no one would feel cheated.

But China didn’t play by those rules, AP reported. It refused at first to even join in multinational talks, negotiating separately with Zambia and insisting on confidentiality that barred the country from telling non-Chinese lenders the terms of the loans.

By late 2020, Zambia was unable to pay the interest and defaulted, setting off a cycle of spending cuts and deepening poverty.

Since then, inflation in Zambia has increased by 50%, unemployment has hit a 17-year high and the nation’s currency, the kwacha, has lost 30% of its value in just seven months. AP also found that 3.5 million Zambians are now not getting enough food.

AP reported that a few months after Zambia defaulted, researchers found that the country owed $6.6 billion to Chinese state-owned banks, double what many thought at the time and about a third of the country’s total debt.

China’s unwillingness however to take big losses on the hundreds of billions of dollars it is owed, as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank have urged, has left many countries on a treadmill of paying back interest, which stifles the economic growth that would help them pay off the debt.

For Pakistan, its foreign cash reserves have plunged more than 50%, according to AP’s analysis, while in nine of the 12 countries analyzed, foreign cash reserves have dropped on average of 25% in just one year.

Based on this, Pakistan for example has only two months left of foreign cash to pay for food, fuel and other essential imports if it does not get a bailout. Other countries, such as Mongolia, have eight months left.

AP found that last month, Pakistan was so desperate to prevent more blackouts that it struck a deal to buy discounted oil from Russia, breaking ranks with the US-led effort to shut off Vladimir Putin’s funds.

In Sri Lanka, rioters poured into the streets last July, setting homes of government ministers aflame and storming the presidential palace, sending the leader tied to onerous deals with China fleeing the country.

China has however disputed the idea that Beijing is an unforgiving lender and said in a statement that the Federal Reserve was to blame.

It said that if it is to accede to IMF and World Bank demands to forgive a portion of its loans, so should multilateral lenders, which it views as US proxies.

“We call on these institutions to actively participate in relevant actions in accordance with the principle of ‘joint action, fair burden’ and make greater contributions to help developing countries tide over the difficulties,” the statement said.

But China’s approach to lending is widely considered more transactional and criticized as “opaque” and analysts see Beijing’s desire to access oil, minerals and other commodities as the driving force behind Chinese lenders being less prone to applying strict conditions in helping governments finance roads, bridges and railroads – so as to unlock those resources.

Just last month, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told lawmakers: “I’m very, very concerned about some of the activities that China engages in globally, investing in countries in ways that leave them trapped in debt and don’t promote economic development.”

“We are working very hard to counter that influence in all of the international institutions that we participate in,” she said.

Since 2017, China has become the world’s largest official creditor, surpassing the World Bank, IMF and 22-member Paris Club combined, Brent Neiman, a counselor to Yellen, said late last year.

Politico meanwhile reported earlier this month that China’s financing of projects in other countries between 2000 and 2017 totaled more than $800 billion, most of that in the form of loans.

But for some poor countries struggling to repay China, they now find themselves stuck in a kind of loan limbo: China won’t budge in taking losses, and the IMF won’t offer low-interest loans if the money is just going to pay interest on Chinese debt.

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Nearly 1,500 missing in Nepal and China after devastating Himalaya flood

Published

16 hours ago

August 27, 2026

Ariana News

Nearly 1,500 people including at least 800 foreigners are missing across Nepal and China’s Tibet, authorities said on Thursday, after a wall of mud and rock collapsed into a Himalayan river, sending catastrophic floods through towns and valleys.

Rescuers in Nepal used helicopters to search for survivors and drop emergency supplies to thousands cut off after Wednesday’s disaster swept a rugged ‌mountainous region thronged by trekkers and pilgrims linking Lhasa in Tibet with the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu. Police said they expected the death toll to rise beyond 165, Reuters reported.

“This will go up, as we have resumed the search and more bodies are expected to be recovered,” police spokesperson Abi Narayan Kafle told Reuters.

Almost 600 foreigners were among 826 people missing in Nepal, police and tourism officials said.

Among the missing tourists from more than two dozen countries, 177 were from India, 63 were from the United States, 34 from Australia, 33 from Britain and 25 from Canada.

The tally of missing in Tibet’s Gyirong county was 558, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said on Thursday, including 260 foreign nationals.

Verified videos showed crushing masses of water and debris sweeping away dozens of people at a border crossing in Gyirong, with homes, roads and power projects washed away further downstream ⁠in Nepal.

“It was a huge gush of mud coming straight towards us,” said Keshav Prasad Baral, a 68-year-old survivor being treated in hospital.

“As it got closer, it kept rising higher and higher. When I saw it enter our home, I tried to grab my wife’s hand and take her to the terrace. But she was swept away by the mud.”

A helicopter ferried him to safety four hours later. “My wife is still somewhere beneath the mud,” he added. “She’s gone.”

Another survivor said he saved himself by clinging to a mango tree as he watched the house where he had been working disappear.

EMERGENCY DELIVERIES BEGIN

In the hardest-hit districts, helicopters are dropping tents, food and other emergency supplies provided by neighbouring India, said Raja Ram Basnet, a spokesperson for Nepal’s army. More than 5,000 army and police rescue personnel were mobilised to look for survivors and find bodies.

Early reports from Nepali officials suggested an earthquake in the area could have caused the lower part of a glacier to collapse and trigger the floods.

The U.S. Geological Survey said an earthquake with magnitude initially reported as 4.4 was in fact seismic energy generated by the collapse of glacial rock and ice, followed by debris flow.

Chinese authorities have identified risks from a still-dammed lake located in Gyirong, upstream from the mudslide and flood-stricken Tibet-Nepal border crossing that could significantly complicate rescue efforts in the mountainous site, CCTV reported ‌on Thursday.

Many of ⁠the victims were making a pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar, a high-altitude site in Tibet revered by Hindus and Buddhists among others.

Mount Kailash, which Hindus believe to be the abode of Lord Shiva, lies on the banks of Lake Mansarovar, also held sacred in various religions.

The U.S. State Department said it was sending a disaster response adviser and providing assistance of $500,000.

Canada was also closely following the situation, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on X, describing the floods as “absolutely devastating”.

U.N. teams and partners were sending supplies and personnel to support affected Nepali communities, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said details on the disaster were scant.

“Nepal … is a developing country,” he said. “It doesn’t have the resources that an event like that would have in Australia, so information is ⁠difficult.”

Sagar Pandey, the chief executive of a Himalayan tourism operator, said 15 Indian-Australians on a pilgrimage tour with the company were missing.

“There are no human-made things, no human settlement left. Everything is just flat,” he told Reuters after flying over the zone in a helicopter. “So anyone in the hotel, the restaurant, or the car, I believe that everybody is gone.”

VIDEOS SHOW PEOPLE SWEPT AWAY WHILE FLEEING

Security footage captured on the Chinese side of the border showed many people fleeing from a torrent of rock, mud and ⁠water that destroyed buildings and vehicles.

People seeking information about family members missing from the affected areas of Nuwakot and Dhading gathered outside a Nepali army training centre that was the base for helicopter rescue operations, the images showed.

In the affected areas, layers of mud metres thick swathed homes, trees and vehicles. Helicopters ferrying survivors hovered overhead all day.

An initial study of Planet Labs satellite imagery showed a landslide of ice and rock unleashed a flood carrying debris in ⁠the Lhende River, about 20 km (12 miles) northeast of the Nepal-China Rasuwagadhi border crossing, Nepal disaster management officials said on X.

Television images showed collapsed homes, floating cars and a metal bridge being washed away, while witnesses said the waters engulfed entire villages.

“There is devastation everywhere we look,” said Tula Bahadur BK, a health worker in Rasuwa.

“The settlements next to the river have been completely swept away. Five of my own relatives are missing.

World

Trial for accused mastermind of 9/11 attacks set for June 2028

He is accused of orchestrating the plot to fly hijacked passenger jetliners into the World Trade Center in New York City and into the Pentagon. The 9/11 attacks killed nearly 3,000 people.

Published

17 hours ago

August 27, 2026

Ariana News

A U.S. Air Force judge on Wednesday ordered Khalid Sheikh ‌Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, and three co-defendants to go on trial before a military tribunal in June 2028.

The trial-scheduling order entered by Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Michael Schrama marked the latest milestone in a military prosecution beset by two decades of legal deadlock surrounding the four detainees held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Reuters reported.

Last month, a U.S. appeals court refused to allow Mohammed ⁠and two of his co-defendants to plead guilty under agreements that would have spared them the death penalty.

The appellate decision reversed decisions of a military judge and the U.S. Court of Military Commission Review in support of the plea deal.

The agreement had been offered last year and accepted by the official who oversees the Pentagon’s Guantanamo war court, only to be revoked last August by then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin amid criticism of the deal from Republican lawmakers.

Under Schrama’s 11-page order, Mohammed and three co-defendants — Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak bin ‘Atash, Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, and Ali Abdul Aziz Ali — will stand trial starting on June 5, 2028.

The proceedings open with selection of a panel consisting entirely of ‌service ⁠members who will act as the jury to hear the case according to rules of military justice.

Opening statements will commence 30 calendar days after the panel is seated, followed by presentation of the prosecution’s evidence, after which the defendants may file motions for findings of not guilty.

The order gives both sides opportunities to argue those motions and rebut one another, and for prosecutors ⁠to reopen their case. The defense presents its principal evidence starting 60 calendar days after the prosecution concludes its case.

The trial ends with a sentencing phase.

Schrama rejected the prosecutors’ proposal to open the trial in January 2027, saying that would leave too little ⁠time for the “resolution of pretrial evidentiary and compliance motions.”

Mohammed remains the most well-known inmate at the Guantanamo detention facility, which was set up in 2002 by then-U.S. President George W. Bush to house foreign militant suspects following the ⁠September 11, 2001, attacks.

He is accused of orchestrating the plot to fly hijacked passenger jetliners into the World Trade Center in New York City and into the Pentagon. The 9/11 attacks killed nearly 3,000 people.

World

Trump administration issues pause on visa appointments for applicants worldwide

Published

2 days ago

August 26, 2026

Ariana News

President Donald Trump’s administration has issued a pause on visa appointments for applicants around the world during ‌an ongoing immigration crackdown by the U.S. government in the Republican leader’s second term in the White House.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson said on Tuesday that it launched a global training initiative at all U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide and that appointments for visa services will be adjusted to accommodate the training, Reuters reported.

Trump has pursued an aggressive deportation ⁠drive and immigration crackdown that includes revocations of visas and green cards and rejection of applications over a. range of reasons like political opinions and pro-Palestinian protests against U.S. ally Israel’s assault on Gaza.

He says the crackdown aims to improve domestic security.

The crackdown has faced some legal setbacks. A U.S. judge on Friday struck down a Trump administration policy suspending the issuance of immigrant visas to applicants from 75 countries, saying that the policy exceeded Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statutory authority.

The State Department did not specify details on the training and its timeline, beyond saying the ‌training aimed ⁠to help consular officers screen out applicants deemed likely to become dependent on U.S. public benefits and to ensure evaluation of visa applicants “comprehensively and consistently.”

The pause on visa appointments was reported earlier by the Financial Times, which said immigrant visa applicants with scheduled interviews at U.S. embassies and consulates have ⁠received emails that their appointments were being rescheduled and that they would receive future notice of a new date.

Trump’s immigration crackdown has been widely condemned by human rights groups as being discriminatory and in violation ⁠of free speech and due process rights. Rights groups also say the crackdown has created an unsafe environment in the U.S., especially for ethnic minorities who have raised concerns about racial ⁠profiling.

While Trump campaigned in 2024 on a platform of stopping illegal immigration, his administration has also made legal immigration more difficult – for example, by imposing new and expensive fees for applicants of certain work visas.