Are China’s global expansionist plans undermining the sovereignty of debt-ridden countries?

Ocean-going ships have always been a larger and more important mode of transport for sending goods from China and the Far East to the rest of the world than by camel caravans trudging along some imaginary “Silk Roads” through the deserts and over the mountains of Central Asia. And, in this regard, it is of crucial importance to China to have unhindered access to shipping lanes across the Indian Ocean.

In April 2023, Darshana M Baruah of the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace testified before the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee on the Indo-Pacific saying: “Nine of China’s top ten crude oil suppliers transit the Indian Ocean. The Indian Ocean is also the primary theatre of transit for China for engagements with Africa, [the] Middle East, island nations, and littorals across the vast ocean. Going beyond, it is also the main trading route between China and Europe.”

China’s interest in the Indian Ocean is therefore clear, Baruah said, “at least on the economic side,” adding that “as history will tell us, the flag follows trade. There is little doubt in the strategic importance of the Indian Ocean for China and this interest will only continue to grow.” Such important trade routes...

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