Belt and Road accusations often 'mischievous Western rhetoric'

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a massive project for China, with a trade and infrastructure network spanning across continents and heralded by many countries for boosting trade and building stronger relations.

Since 2013, more than 150 countries and over 30 international organizations have signed cooperation documents. Europe is an important part of the Belt and Road Initiative, with 27 countries signing up.

There is also skepticism in the West. Is it well-founded? Is it understandable? 

Professor John M Hobson, Sheffield University, Professor of Politics and International Relations, is uncomfortable with criticism of the BRI.

"There are various arguments made and there's the most prominent version of this kind of China threat theory, that the BRI allegedly constitutes is a notion of debt trap diplomacy," Hobson told CGTN Europe.

"This is the notion that China lent money to BRI countries at high interest rates until eventually those countries can no longer pay the interest on the loans. And then China grabs some land. And three countries are always singled out here - Djibouti, Kenya and Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan Hambantota project is the most iconic of this so-called trope, and with the claim being that when Sri Lanka could no longer pay interest, the Chinese state simply took over the port in an arbitrary land grab. 

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"If you dig down and look at the details, you'll find that it was quite the opposite, that in fact, the Sri Lankan state found that it couldn't maintain the Port Authority. It tried to get money from abroad. Canada was one country. It didn't (get the funding). And eventually it asked China to take over the port, which it did. 

"So the notion that this is some kind of land grab is simply incorrect. And it is, frankly, a bit of mischievous Western rhetoric designed to derail the BRI project."

Regarding the outlook for the Belt and Road Initiative, especially considering the current shrinking state of the world economies and troubled geo-politics, is there still scope for expansion for China's ambitions?

"This is growth not just for China, but also for BRI countries. So this is something that, to use his terminology, could be a win-win for countries, and it's one certainly many BRI countries greatly value. So I think there's plenty of scope for further expansion," Hobson added. 

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