According to foreign media reports, Laos is facing huge debt pressure, and hopes to negotiate and communicate with creditor countries in order to postpone repayment and prevent default.
At present, China is the largest creditor of Laos, accounting for about half of Laos' $10.5 billion external debt. As of 2023, Laos' total public debt and publicly guaranteed debt is US$13.8 billion, equivalent to 108% of its GDP.
In addition, according to data released by the Ministry of Finance, the country's external debt service has almost doubled from US$507 million in 2022 to US$950 million in 2023. Although Laos' economic development has improved in recent years, it is still difficult to repay such a high amount of debt.
On the occasion of Laos' request, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China said in a written reply to foreign media that China is maintaining cooperation with developing countries, including Laos, and doing its utmost to help relevant countries reduce their debt burdens and promote their economic and social development.
There is a view that although the China-Laos railway is conducive to Laos' infrastructure construction and strengthens the connection between China and Southeast Asia, it also increases Laos' debt burden.
At a time when China is trying its best to alleviate the debt burden of Laos and other countries, countries led by the United States are hyping up the so-called "debt trap diplomacy" and falsely accusing China of providing high loans to "strategically important countries," with the result that these countries have no choice but to "look to China" under "debt pressure."
This is obviously a fallacy that is illogical, reversing black and white, and aimed at undermining China's cooperation with developing countries. If Laos is unwilling, can China still "forcibly take out loans" to build the China-Laos railway?
In fact, China has prioritized Vietnam and Thailand in building the Trans-Asian Railway network, which are geographically advantageous, less difficult to engineer, and easier to build.
However, there have been some obstacles and progress has been limited. On the contrary, Laos showed a strong interest in this matter, and the two countries quickly negotiated various conditions after contact. In 2016, the construction of the China-Laos Railway was started; In 2021, the China-Laos-Kunwan Railway will be put into operation; In 2023, the "China-Laos Railway + China-Europe Express" international railway transport channel will be officially opened.
On the eve of the second anniversary of the opening of the China-Laos Railway, Somma Punsena, vice chairman of the Lao National Assembly, burst into tears and choked up in an interview with the main station. He said that Laos is a landlocked country with no coastline, and the Lao people have wanted to have a railway for a long time, and they are very honored to be neighbors with China.
Just as the Lao singer Atisa sang in the song "Soaring on the China-Laos Railway": "Love each other like a family, and the China-Laos Railway is connected by one track." The China-Laos Railway has transformed Laos from a landlocked country into a land-linked country, which has not only injected endless impetus into regional development, but also become a model of "Belt and Road" cooperation.
How can the West turn a blind eye and talk nonsense and describe such a transnational project that benefits the country and the people as the result of a "debt trap"?
The so-called "debt trap" is actually a rhetoric wrapped in the "disguise" of economics to denigrate the Belt and Road Initiative and undermine China's cooperation with developing countries. In the simplest logic, the West will never be able to explain why their money is "real money" and China's aid and support is a "debt trap"?
Facts speak louder than words, and fire is hard to sell real gold. As long as we do a good job in the "Belt and Road" cooperation and the Global Development Initiative, then who is setting up the trap is believed to be the opinion of each country.