Chinese ‘Debt Trap’ narratives are myth making propaganda manufactured in West

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*
The international debt trap is a product of colonial and neo-colonial plunders, imperialist hegemony and neoliberal economic policies imposed by developed countries on developing world. The Asian, African, Latin American and even the capitalist west is suffering from debt due to the dominance of Westphalian capitalist system that controls world economic and politics. However, the reactionary and capitalist ideologues, their mouthpiece mass media, writers, journalists, consultants, think tanks, leaders and their propaganda machines are on a relentless campaign to defame, delegitimise and diminish Chinese achievements. The core idea of this consorted anti-Chinese propaganda is to undermine the alternative development model pursued by China.
The Chinese economic and political engagement in Asia, Africa and Latin America is challenging the debt dependence development model and questions the very foundation of western debt trap designed to exploit natural resources from the developing world. Debt is a political and economic tool of the western countries to control the politics and economic systems of the developing world and continue capitalist hegemony. China is a threat to such world order. From Chinese authoritarianism to Chinese debt trap campaigns are ideologically driven propaganda based on myths. There is absolutely no foundation to these campaigns. Falsehood is a norm for the survival of western hegemony over people and the planet.
The Chinese ‘Debt Trap’ narratives are myth making propaganda. The idea of debt trap diplomacy is to undermine Beijing and its relationship with developing countries. In reality, China provides three different types of loans i.e., i) interest free loan, ii) long term loan for infrastructure with minimal interests and iii) commercial loans. China even allows to restructure the terms of the existing loans based on changing economic conditions of the borrowing countries. China has never grabbed any assets of the any countries that borrowed from China. The acquisitions, investments and integrations are western business strategies in international trade, but China pursues these strategies with a difference when it comes to its lending patterns and policies for the developing countries.
China is the one of the largest official creditors with a global presence, but it never puts conditions of structural adjustments, change of labour laws or liberalisation and privatisation of their economic systems while lending. The western propaganda machine never fails to portray integration and acquisitions as Chinese dominance and debt trap. Chinese economic engagement with the developing countries fundamentally challenges the western hegemony. Therefore, Beijing is branded as an authoritarian devil that intents to colonise and dominate the world. There is no iota of truth in it, but western ideologues look at themselves in prison of their own eyes. The colonial past is a mirror, where the colonisers plays their victim card to hide their past.
The economic and political challenges faced by Asian, African and Latin American countries today are products of their colonial past and neo colonial present dominated by the United States and Western Europe. China is providing loans for infrastructure development by which the developing countries can recover from their western dependency to mobilise their own natural resources.
The African, Asian and Latin American counties are not currently under substantial Chinese debt. In fact, the share of Chinese debt in comparison to total debt to GDP ratio is very minimal. So, it is time to debunk the unfounded narratives and propaganda around Chinese debt trap diplomacy. The expansion of Chinese economic and political engagement with developing countries help in reducing their dependency on western capital, which makes western powers uncomfortable and persistently spread lies against China. This is a diversionary strategy of the western leaders to hide their political and economic failures. Falsely outsourcing of all the blame on China is not going to hide failures of capitalism and so-called western democracy. The deepening of democracy depends on a debt free world economy. It can be facilitated by politics of unity, peace, solidarity and shared prosperity. The Chinese economy and politics based on peace, cooperation, development and socialism are four pillars of Chinese alternative for the world to pursue.
A debt driven western dominance based on capitalism is not an economic or political alternative. It has failed in different stages of history. The world does not need a unipolar, bipolar and multipolar world order led by United State, China, France, Britain, Germany, Russia and India. The world politics needs to focus on people, peace and planet based on egalitarian values of liberty, justice, fraternity and citizenship rights. A people and planet centric world order is the call of the day for a sustainable tomorrow.
---
*University of Glasgow, UK

Comments

Academics urge Azim Premji University to drop FIR against Student Reading Circle

By A Representative A group of academics and civil society members has issued an open letter to the leadership of Azim Premji University expressing concern over the filing of a police complaint that led to an FIR against a student-run reading circle following a recent incident of violence on campus. The signatories state that they hold the university in high regard for its commitment to constitutional values, critical inquiry and ethical public engagement, and argue that it is precisely because of this reputation that the present development is troubling.

Was Netaji forced to alter face, die in obscurity in USSR in 1975? Was he so meek?

By Rajiv Shah This should sound almost hilarious. Not only did Subhas Chandra Bose not die in a plane crash in Taipei, nor was he the mysterious Gumnami Baba who reportedly passed away on 16 September 1985 in Ayodhya, but we are now told that he actually died in 1975—date unknown—“in oblivion” somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Which city? Moscow? No one seems to know.

UAPA action against Telangana activist: Criminalising legitimate democratic activity?

By A Representative The National Investigation Agency's Hyderabad branch has issued notices to more than ten individuals in Telangana in connection with FIR No. RC-04/2025. Those served include activists, former student leaders, civil rights advocates, poets, writers, retired schoolteachers, and local leaders associated with the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Indian National Congress.

Asbestos contamination in children’s products highlights global oversight gaps

By A Representative A commentary published by the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) has drawn attention to the challenges governments face in responding effectively to global public-health risks. In an article written by Laurie Kazan-Allen and published on March 5, 2026, the author examines how the discovery of asbestos contamination in children’s play products has raised questions about regulatory oversight and international product safety. The article opens by reflecting on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that governments in several countries were slow to respond to early warning signs of the crisis. Referring to the experience of the United Kingdom, the author writes that delays in implementing protective measures contributed to “232,112 recorded deaths and over a million people suffering from long Covid.” The commentary uses this example to illustrate what it describes as the dangers of underestimating emerging threats. Attention then turns...

Aligning too closely with U.S., allies, India’s silence on IRIS Dena raises troubling questions

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* The reported sinking of the Iranian ship IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka raises troubling questions about international norms and the credibility of the so-called rule-based order. If indeed the vessel was attacked by the American Navy while returning from a joint exercise in Visakhapatnam, it would represent a serious breach of trust and a violation of the principles that govern such cooperative engagements. Warships participating in these exercises are generally not armed for combat; they are meant to symbolize solidarity and friendship. The incident, therefore, is not only shocking but also deeply ironic.

The kitchen as prison: A feminist elegy for domestic slavery

By Garima Srivastava* Kumar Ambuj stands as one of the most incisive voices in contemporary Hindi poetry. His work, stripped of ornamentation, speaks directly to the lived realities of India’s marginalized—women, the rural poor, and those crushed under invisible forms of violence. His celebrated poem “Women Who Cook” (Khānā Banātī Striyāṃ) is not merely about food preparation; it is a searing indictment of patriarchal domestic structures that reduce women’s existence to endless, unpaid labour.

India’s foreign policy at crossroads: Cost of silence in the face of aggression

By Venkatesh Narayanan, Sandeep Pandey The widely anticipated yet unprovoked attack on Iran on March 1 by the United States and Israel has drawn sharp criticism from several quarters around the world. Reports indicate that the strikes have resulted in significant civilian casualties, including 165 elementary school girls, 20 female volleyball players, and many other civilians.

India’s green energy push faces talent crunch amidst record growth at 16% CAGR

By Jag Jivan* A new study by a top consulting firm has found that India’s cleantech sector is entering a decisive growth phase, with strong policy backing, record capacity additions and surging investor interest, but facing mounting pressure on talent supply and rising compensation costs .

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Search This Blog