US senators, have strongly criticized China’s, ‘One Belt One Road, initiative’ saying that though large-scale investment in the basic infrastructure is the need of the Asian and African continents and various other parts of the world, yet the ‘One Belt One Road’ scheme of China is much more than what meets the eye. These highly critical views of the American Senators have been expressed during one of the hearings in the US Senate held over the financial assistance being provided to the developmental projects in Asia.
During the last hearing held in the US Senate, US Defense Secretary, James Mattis had strongly criticized both Pakistan and China over the ambitious ‘China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. Mattis had further warned against the dictatorship of any one country in the, “One Belt One Road” project. However, Pakistan, has expressed disapproval over US’s stance which implies open support to India’s policy and has also tried to justify its side.
But the US has continued to stay firm on its policy even after clarifications from Pakistan and China. Meanwhile, China has claimed that “One Belt One Road” project is specially designed to take care of the interests of all the neighboring developing countries. But in reality this programme is taking care of only the vested interests of China, pointed out Ted Yoho, a senior US Senator. Yoho heads the “House Foreign Affairs Sub-committee on Asia and Pacific” in the US Senate.
China has provided financial assistance under the ‘Belt and Road’ programme at very high interest rates, which is never the case with development projects. This programme is being managed by the Chinese companies and chiefly includes programmes linked to the government. The labour and raw materials used are also from China and hence it is not resulting in any significant increase in the economy of the other countries included in the programme. At the same time these countries are facing exorbitant load of loans, criticized the US Senators.
The One Belt One Road programme is directly related to the strategic and military interests of China and this is not be a mere coincidence, blamed the US Senators. To justify the criticism raised, Yoho has brought forth the example of Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port project. This programme has been raised by China in the constituency of a corrupt leader and on the denial of the repayment of loan; it was confiscated by China and was further used in its maritime trade route.
The Commissioner of “US-China Economic Security Review Commission” and the ex-senior USEd official, Jonathan Stivers expressed that through programmes like the “One Belt One Road “, China is trying to forcibly push its dominance over the world.
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