The UK’s “debt trap” rhetoric is not based on facts. China’s investment and financing cooperation with fellow developing countries is carried out in compliance with international rules, market laws and the principle of debt sustainability and has been widely welcomed, according to Mao.
Mao stressed it is a handful of Western countries who have been spreading the fallacy of “Chinese debt traps”. The multilateral financial institutions and commercial creditors these countries dominate are the major creditors of developing countries and constitute the major source of stress for them in terms of debt repayment. They are the ones that need to make substantive contributions to easing developing countries’ debt burden.
“We call on the UK to reject the Cold War mentality, stop spreading ‘China threat’ narratives, look at China and China-UK relations in an objective and rational light, and work with China for the sound and steady development of bilateral ties,” the spokesperson said.