frightful_hobgoblin , 2 hours ago

What your Trump-supporting journalist says –

Behind the scenes is China’s reluctance to forgive debt…

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.

The actual facts –

• China, the largest government creditor to emerging economies, said it will forgive 23 interest-free loans to 17 African countries and redirect $10 billion of its International Monetary Fund reserves to nations on the continent.
• New sovereign debt negotiations and zero-interest loan write-offs involving Chinese creditors totalled $19 billion in 2021, the report said, although that dropped to $9 billion in 2022 and to $1.7 billion in 2023 through April, a total drop of over 90%.