Sri Lanka

China’s diplomatic blitz in Trump’s backyard — who will dominate the western hemisphere?

The high frequency of foreign dignitaries from Asia, Europe and South America visiting China at the start of 2026 indicates a strong focus and urgency behind Beijing’s effort to draw US allies closer and counter America’s efforts to restore preeminence in the western hemisphere, observes ISEAS researcher Lye Liang Fook.

Lye Liang Fook

27 Feb 2026

China’s BRI problem: From builder to debt collector

China has embarked on very rapid and massive overseas lending since 2013, when it launched the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). But it has now become the world’s largest debt collector for developing countries’ debt repayments. EAI senior research fellow Yu Hong assesses whether China’s shifting role in global lending will undercut the BRI.

Yu Hong

24 Jun 2025

Japan’s debt restructuring plan for Sri Lanka must include China

Japanese academic Shin Kawashima notes that resolving Sri Lanka’s debt situation would require various debtor countries to come together to find an all-round solution. While Japan has its plans, China’s participation is crucial.

Shin Kawashima

06 Jun 2024

India, France and Japan join hands to counter China's influence in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's recent high-level diplomatic engagements with India, France and Japan highlighted the island nation's importance in the ongoing great power rivalry in the Indo-Pacific region. After obtaining an IMF bailout with the assistance of these nations and dealing with the fallout of the pro-China Rajapaksa family, is the new Sri Lankan administration adopting a more Western and India-oriented vision?

Rishi Gupta

10 Aug 2023

China's overseas lending needs a full-fledged debt restructuring

China finds itself in a similar predicament as Japan in the 1970s, when the latter was a major lender to the Latin American countries which eventually suffered a major debt crisis in the 1980s. Now a major lender to various developing countries, especially after Covid, China's apparent approach of kicking the can down the road means that time bombs of massive defaults are waiting to go off.

Alicia García Herrero

16 May 2023

[Future of China] China's ten-year-old BRI needs a revamp

The BRI's implementation will be slowing down as a result of multiple factors ranging from the global Covid-19 pandemic, the shift in the global geostrategic environment and the Chinese economic slowdown. As it changes its model to suit change, it could focus more on sustainable financing for BRI countries and lower the long-term financial impacts of loans for infrastructure projects. It could also pursue "third-party market cooperation" as a flexible approach in its pursuit of cooperation with other countries under the BRI umbrella. This is the second in a five-part series of articles on the future of China.

Yu Hong

13 Sep 2022

Sri Lanka: A lesson in debt trap diplomacy

China has been accused of debt trap diplomacy through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Starting with the Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka, commentator William He examines the rhetoric surrounding the BRI, and controversies that have emerged from Asia to Africa. Is the BRI a channel for China to expend overproduction, infrastructure construction to boost connectivity, or a grand project to take over the world and counter the US?

William He

28 Jul 2022

Sri Lanka crisis: China's global image at stake

ISAS academic Chulanee Attanayake explains the bind China is in with regards to the Sri Lanka economic and political crisis. On the one hand, China does not want to set a precedent for bailing out cash-strapped partners, but it also needs to maintain its carefully built image as an unwavering friend to small developing nations.

Chulanee Attanayake

02 Jun 2022