BEN KRITZ
ONE of the biggest fears of people in developing countries including the Philippines, so we are told, is that of the Chinese “debt trap.” The simplest explanation of the idea is that China, in its aggressive push to develop its intercontinental “Belt and Road Initiative,” is lending money to poor countries under unfavorable terms to finance badly-needed infrastructure projects. When the countries are unable to pay these loans, China then takes control of the leveraged assets, in effect carrying out a gradual, bloodless invasion.