Thread by @GlobalWatch_

Challenges faced by the world in 2020-21 due to China’s Belt Road Initiative(#BRI)

#BRI is criticized for China’s debt trap policy

#BRI has led social unrest & clashes between Chinese workers and the local community in countries

#COVID19 further intensified problems

1/20

BRI also led to the initial spread COVID

#Italy was the 1st nation to be badly affected by COVID19

It signed BRI deal with #China in 2019

COVID19 Spread to Italy in due to the travel and presence of Chinese workers in #Lombardy
2/20

#COVIDSpread
Iran was also part of the OBOR-an agreement signed in 2019

Iran also badly suffered due to the COVID19 in the early months of 2020
@TheSiasatDaily
3/30

#DebtTrap
Countries took billions of dollars in loans from China

They are trapped in debt and are demanding debt relief for mega projects - including motorways, ports, dams, and railways .

They are knocking on Beijing's door for debt relief.

4/20

#Pakistan
China Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC)

Only 32 of l 122 projects announced under BRI could be completed in 2020

Corruption and collusion of Chinese companies with local contractors

Chinese firms earn massive profits through through higher tariffs
@ETNOWlive

5/20

#Pakistan
Frequent scuffles between Chinese Labourers and Pakistani soldiers.

Chinese labourers working on the CPEC assaulted Pakistani soldiers in July 2020, say reports

Chinese personnel have to be protected by 13,700-strong Special Security Division of the Pak Army
6/20

#Pakistan
But, China demands more security for its CPEC workers in Pakistan

In a leaked report in August 2020 Chinese side has expressed anger and frustration with Pakistan regarding lack of security

Signs of unease emerging between China, Pakistan over future of CPEC
7/20

#Myanmar

Myanmar's pushback against China-funded Economic Corridor

Only commercially viable Chinese projects will be allowed in Myanmar

Myanmar’s powerful top generals have realized that Belt and Road Initiative projects have resulted in a debt trap for countries
8/20

#Bangladesh
Chinese projects are facing significant resistance in Bangladesh

Unpaid wages, Working hours and Alleged led to protests and clashes between Chinese and Bangladeshi workers

This happened at the Payra Power Plant funded by Beijing
9/20

#SriLanka
Concerns by the Sri Lankan Supreme Court on the Chinese Projects in the Country

In some sections of Sri Lanka, there is a fear that the #Hambantota port city could result in a Chinese colony inside the country.
10/20

#Africa
#BRI in Africa has also come under the scanner as many have accused it of entrapping countries in its 'debt-trap' diplomacy.

The (IMF) persistently warns African and other third-world countries that mounting debts to China are dangerous.
11/20

#Africa
China's BRI projects face pushback in Africa from environmentalists and civil society groups

According to @SCMPNews projects pose #environmental and social risks to protected #wildlife areas, water sources and communities throughout Uganda and Tanzania”.
12/20

#Australia Pulls Out Of BRI Pact With China;

Australia scrapped a controversial BRI agreement as the deal contrary to the national interest.

This ends further Sino-Australian cooperation in the fields of industrial production, biotechnology and agriculture.
13/20

#Canada
#BritishColumbia is Reducing Collaborations with China

Then B.C. premier announced a series of collaborations with China in 2016

The arrests of #Spavor and #Kovrig in China, other Human Rights Violations in #HongKong and #Xinjiang led to conflict with China
14/20

#Europe
#COVID19 and rising debt distances Europe from China's Ambitions

China is being snubbed into scaling down its ambitions right across Central and Eastern Europe, a region that is critical to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

#Huawei banned in many countries.
15/20

#AlternativeToBRI

#USA and #QUAD and #India are trying possible alternatives to BRI- a league of #Democratic Nations which respect international laws
16/20

#India faces a strategic challenge due to China and Paksitan BRI

India did not join other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in backing China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)

This Project passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
17/20

#OBOR Labourers: Silent Victims of Labour Trafficking

“The entire Belt and Road initiative is based on forced labor,” , says a report

One Million Chinese workers were engaged in BRI projects in 2019.

Labour abuses are a violation of international law
@washingtonpost
18/20

Real stories of Chinese workers employed in BRI projects.
•For months, Ding was locked in a 170-square-foot workers’ dormitory near a Chinese smelting facility in Indonesia.
•A worker infected with COVID19 was in isolation without medical attention and was found dead.
19/20

A worker was beaten by local security guards and handcuffed as he wanted to return to China.
•A worker was paralysed after being stuck by hammer.
•A worker was crushed to death by a truck.
•Another one lost eye sight after injury at work
20/20

20/20