NOLIGARCHY.USSep 5, 2025
Noticing some buzz around possible new trends—are #WarGamification or #DebtDiplomacy really taking center stage? Or is something else being buried? What are you curious about? #AIRestrictions #PoliticalScandals #GlobalTensions
Show threadRamesh #NotGoingBackApr 2, 2025

⬆️ @davidaugust

44% duties on #SriLanka, already reeling under Chinese #debtDiplomacy, will drive it even closer to #China.

Same with #Pakistan.

When they get crushed further and default on Chinese loans, #GwadarPort and the port in #Colombo will go to China.

#US is planning to get active in the region, starting with #DiegoGarcia to confront #Iran.

I hope #DUI hires at #Pentagon and brilliant #Harvard grads behind #Project2025 have thought through all of this.

#BeltsAndRoadInitiative #BRI

Show threadRamesh #NotGoingBackSep 7, 2024

⬆️ As #Africa's #Sahel states push out #US and #EU countries, and as #Russia retrenches itself because of #Ukraine incursions in #Kursk, #China seems to have found a way to elbow into the region.

China is hosting the China-Africa summit Forum on China-Africa Cooperation #FOCAC this week

Chinese #debtDiplomacy is known for inducing African countries to take on crushing debt which it refuses to cancel.

China is also active in Nigerien uranium mining

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy0r74j7j1wo

China-Africa summit: President Xi Jinping pledges greener future

China looks to invest in clean energy but it is not clear if this will shift the relationship with Africa.

Show threadRamesh #NotGoingBackAug 30, 2024

⬆️ Land-locked #Ethiopia wants access to #RedSea via breakaway #Somaliland, thus destabilizing #HornOfAfrica ➡️ https://mastodon.social/@rameshgupta/111811895875355606

Egypt is furious that Ethiopia wants to build a dam over the #Nile. To strengthen its influence in the #Horn, it is aligned with #Somalia who has lost Somaliland

#China wants to ensnare Ethiopia in #debtDiplomacy for influence in the Horn ➡️ https://mastodon.social/@rameshgupta/111811958165391287

So #Turkey supplies drones to both sides in the #Egypt-#Ethiopia conflict

https://apnews.com/article/ethiopia-egypt-somalia-tensions-fe758a2efe35aeaadce57ca4be858bda

Ethiopia is worried over a defense deal between Egypt and Somalia as tensions rise in Horn of Africa

Ethiopia is increasingly concerned over a defense deal signed earlier this month between Egypt and Somalia, two countries that Addis Ababa is embroiled in disputes with amid rising tensions in the Horn of Africa region. Details of the deal have not been made public but Ali Abdi Aware, the Somali ambassador to Cairo, claimed the arrival of military equipment from Egypt to Somalia this week was “the first practical step to implementing” that deal. He also asserted that Egyptian troops would be deployed to Somalia after Dec. 31, when an African Union’s peacekeeping mission to Somalia ends.

AP News
Show threadRamesh #NotGoingBackAug 30, 2024

⬆️ 10 weeks ago >> #Pakistan [already crushed under #China #debtDiplomacy] seeks a new long-term #IMF #bailout… When Pakistan defaults on China loans under the audacious #BeltAndRoadInitiative, China’s real prize [would be] Pakistan’s #GwadarPort on #ArabianSea 👀

Seems like that day is closer now. When #ChinaPakistanEconomicCorridor #CPEC was launched in 2015, it was heralded as a game-changer for Pakistan

The plan (part of #BRI) promised to transform Pakistan’s economy

https://www.thestatesman.com/world/pakistan-and-chinese-debt-trap-a-looming-crisis-1503337009.html

Pakistan and Chinese debt trap: A looming crisis? - The Statesman

This article aims to explore this possibility by delving into the complex relationship between Pakistan and China, analyzing the financial data, and considering the broader implications of this economic dependency.

The Statesman
Show threadRamesh #NotGoingBackJul 1, 2024

⬆️ @Npars01 @kmck @w7voa

>> Part of why #China is funding #ElectionInterference for #GOP: (1) #taxCuts (2) #fiscalShortfall funded by sale of #debt to China, #SaudiArabia & #Russia

I've noted China brokering #rapprochement between #Iran & #SaudiArabia to derail peace between #ArabLeague & #Israel, and resulting #AxisOfResistance attacks as a precursor to US Election Interference.

Also noted China's #debtDiplomacy ensnaring poorer nations, but this angle of ensnaring #US in debt is new! Thanks!

Show threadRamesh #NotGoingBackJun 23, 2024

⬆️ #Coup-hit #Niger was betting on a #China-backed oil #pipeline as a lifeline. Then the troubles began.

The linked story below explains why Niger might have revoked the #French company’s uranium mining permit reported above.

With Niger tilting towards #Russia and neighboring #Benin aligned with #France and the #WestAfrican bloc, China has tried to step in and resolve the impasse and benefit from its investment in the project.

#Chinese #DebtDiplomacy

https://apnews.com/article/niger-benin-oil-pipeline-china-agadem-coup-01891707e30450361eeaedbb3daf7bce

Coup-hit Niger was betting on a China-backed oil pipeline as a lifeline. Then the troubles began

A pipeline project built with China's support that would make Niger an oil-exporting country is being threatened by an internal security crisis and a diplomatic dispute with neighoring Benin. Both crises are as a result of last year’s coup that toppled the West African nation’s democratic government. Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world and was hoping to use the oil exports to shore up revenue and emerge from post-coup sanctions. Observers now worry that the stalled pipeline operation could halt the country's overall economic growth.

AP News
Show threadRamesh #NotGoingBackJun 12, 2024

⬆️ #Pakistan presents a budget as it seeks a new long-term #IMF #bailout.

It’s looking for a long-term loan of $6B–$8B from IMF to help stabilize the economy, which in 2023 nearly defaulted on foreign debts.

Re IMF, Pakistan will privatize its national carrier, #PakistanInternationalAirlines, which #China will swoop in on when Pakistan defaults on China loans under #BeltAndRoadInitiative #BRI #debtDiplomacy, but its real prize is Pakistan’s #GwadarPort on #ArabianSea 👀

https://apnews.com/article/pakistan-budget-parliament-imf-7752e501660024e269ce99a423f5a4f4

Pakistan’s new government presents its first budget as it seeks a new long-term IMF bailout

Pakistan’s new coalition government presented its first budget in parliament. It is promising an increase of up to 25% in the salaries of government employees and setting an ambitious tax collection target. Talks with the International Monetary Fund about a new bailout continue. Analysts say the new budget of about $68 billion is aimed at qualifying for a long-term loan of $6 billion to $8 billion from the IMF to help stabilize the economy. It nearly defaulted last year on the payment of foreign debts.

AP News
Show threadRamesh #NotGoingBackJun 9, 2024

⬆️ #Pakistan better beware of #China's #debtDiplomacy. See what they've done to #SriLanka and #ColomboPort ➡️ https://mastodon.social/@rameshgupta/111969461293745781

#Chinese investment and financial support have been a boon for Pakistan's struggling economy, including rolling over of loans so that it is able to meet external financing needs at a time foreign reserves are critically low.

China has invested over $65 billion under #ChinaPakistanEconomicCorridor as part of its #BeltAndRoadInitiative #BRI

https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/china-pakistan-agree-strengthen-mining-oil-gas-cooperation-2024-06-09/

Show threadRamesh #NotGoingBackJun 2, 2024

⬆️ Congressional Research Service has an update on #Chinas's audacious #BeltAndRoadInitiative #BRI

Projects under the initiative advance China's geopolitical and economic
goals while undercutting #US influence and interests (scroll up for more)

China is financing projects in more than 100 countries. The scale rivals that of the ENTIRE #WorldBank, but with #debtDiplomacy at its core

All of this happened while America bickered with Newt #Gingrich's #TeaParty and #Trump

https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24676046/chinas-one-belt-one-road-initiative-may-16-2024.pdf
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