GISBORN, NEW ZEALAND – New Zealand has launched an official campaign to revive the indigenous Maori language. The ambitious project is part of an official strategy that sees the revival of the language as a key part in national identity and reconciliation. 
The language has been surprisingly resilient on its own. Case in point – an album by Maori heavy-metal band Alien Weaponry recently went straight to number one in New Zealand. But census data has shown that the number of indigenous speakers in country has fallen.  Glenis Philip-Barbara, the former head of the Maori Language Commission, is optimistic about the future though.“There aren’t as many people speaking Maori as I’d like, I mean, around two-in-five Maori can have a conversation in te reo Maori (the Maori language), which is still quite low.  But, look, we’ve made huge gains since the days when we were at two per cent.  That was the 1970s, so we are steadily growing and, of course, without a proper command of the language you don’t actually have that in-depth understanding of your own culture,” Philip-Barbara said.  Maori TV is publicly funded.  Its presenters and journalists speak only in Maori.  It is a far cry from when children were beaten or whipped at school for speaking their native tongue.Tina Ngata, an indigenous rights campaigner, believes colonization has had terrible consequences for language.“We talk about this idea of cultural genocide and that one of the forms that colonization takes is that the policies, the legislation, the funding, the structures really lend itself towards only letting you survive if you survive as a colonial version of yourself, and it is much more difficult to survive as a Maori.  Our resistance to that is to continue to flood our communities with beautiful Maori-speaking, Maori-singing ceremonial and contemporary versions and on-going, evolving versions of ourselves,” Ngata said.Millions of dollars of government money has been promised to help revitalize Maori.  Like many other New Zealanders, the country’s prime minister, Jacinta Ardern, is eager to learn.”What is the most important thing in the world? The people, the people, the people,” she said.Words such as kia ora (hello), and kai (food) have long been part of New Zealand English.  It is hoped that by 2040, one million Kiwis will be able to speak basic Maori.  Indigenous New Zealanders make up about 15% of the national population. 
…

Southeast Asian countries must stick together in the face of a trade war started by U.S. President Donald Trump, Malaysia’s veteran leader said Saturday at the start of a regional summit held in the shadow of U.S.-China tensions.But as leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met in Bangkok, there was no sign they had yet finalized a planned trade deal backed by China that could create the world’s biggest free trade area.“We don’t want to go into a trade war. But sometimes when they’re unnice to us, we have to be unnice to them,” Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia’s outspoken 94-year-old prime minister told a business summit on the sidelines of the main meeting.Malaysia Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad participates in ASEAN Business and Investment Summit, Nonthaburi, Thailand, Nov. 2, 2019.In an obvious reference to Trump, whose administration began raising tariffs on Chinese imports with the goal of reducing the U.S. trade deficit, Mahathir said “If the person is not there, maybe there will be a change.”A draft final statement for the ASEAN summit seen by Reuters said the leaders would express “deep concern over the rising trade tensions and on-going protectionist and anti-globalization sentiments.”Trade would be the main topic, diplomats said, with little discussion expected on perennial regional problems such as maritime disputes with China over the South China Sea and the plight of Rohingya refugees driven from Myanmar.“We want global economic peace,” said Arin Jira, chairman of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council, a body set up by member states.Export reliant Southeast Asian states are at the sharp end of the trade war, with growth expected to slow to its lowest in five years this year. They are also worried at increasing Chinese influence in a region whose population of more than 620 million is still less than half of China’s.US downgrades its delegationThe United States, an important trade partner, is sending a delegation to the meetings. But the downgrading of its delegation compared to those in previous years and to those of other countries has concerned those who saw Washington as a security counterweight to Beijing.Instead of President Donald Trump or Vice President Mike Pence, the United States will be represented by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien.China is sending its premier, Li Keqiang. “This signals that the U.S. is a lesser player in our area,” Kantathi Suphamongkhon, former Thai foreign minister told Reuters.Hopes for partnershipSoutheast Asian states had hoped to make progress toward finalizing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) — comprising 16 countries that account for a third of global gross domestic product and nearly half the world’s population.But that was unclear after a scheduled news conference was canceled late Friday. A major sticking point has been demands from India, which is worried about a potential flood of Chinese imports.“The finalization of the RCEP negotiation has become a key test for ASEAN’s capacity to deliver on its often-cited centrality,” Marty Natalegawa, a former Indonesian foreign minister, told Reuters.Human rights groups said they did not expect the Southeast Asian countries would do much to address problems such as the Rohingya refugees or discuss questions such as the growing authoritarianism in some member states.“ASEAN will go far. ASEAN will endure,” was the jingle played repeatedly on the conference sound system. “Our neighborhood becomes brotherhood,” it said.
…

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday that negotiations with North Korea were going too slowly after Pyongyang fired two more short-range projectiles.Pompeo downplayed Thursday’s launches themselves, saying they were consistent with previous moves, but called for more effort in nuclear negotiations.”The progress has been far too slow,” Pompeo told radio station KQAM in his home state of Kansas.”I’m hopeful that we can continue to work on this project and get a good outcome in the months ahead,” he said.The South Korean military said the projectiles flew 230 miles (370 kilometers) to the east in North Korea’s first known test since Oct. 2, when it carried out a provocative test of a submarine-launched missile.President Donald Trump has met three times with Kim in hopes of sealing a potentially historic deal on ending North Korea’s nuclear program.But there has been little concrete commitment and North Korea walked out of working-level talks last month in Sweden.
…

Vietnam’s prime minister has ordered an investigation into whether 39 people found dead in a truck in the United Kingdom last month were trafficked out of his country illegally.While the order may mollify outraged Vietnamese citizens, experts fear it masks the government’s longer-term powerlessness to stop people from being smuggled into wealthier countries for money.The discovery by police in southeastern England quickly cast attention on human trafficking from Vietnam to Europe where incomes are higher. Several arrests have been made in the United Kingdom, and one man was charged with conspiracy to traffic people.But an elaborate international chain of command to move people out of Vietnam for high-paid work offshore has grown so mature, dating back to when Vietnam was poorer than it is today, that government officials will find it hard if not impossible to stop, experts say.“This is a never-ending fight,” said Carl Thayer, Southeast Asia-specialized emeritus professor of politics at The University of New South Wales in Australia. “The rewards to the smugglers are too great and the nirvana lifestyle they offer to the people (who) are desperate.”In Vietnam’s less-developed towns, like Da Lat, brokers post signs offering to take locals abroad to find work. (Ha Nguyen/VOA)Efforts to stop human traffickingAfter the 39 deaths were discovered, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told his Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of Foreign Affairs to start an investigation into human smuggling and create “citizen protection measures” if needed, state-run Viet Nam News reported Thursday.Last year, the news service said, British and Vietnamese governments had signed a memorandum of understanding “to tackle modern slavery.”When a Vietnamese foreign minister telephoned a British official Tuesday to discuss the recent case, the two agreed they would “call on the international community to strengthen co-operation to combat the crime.”Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson walks with Chief Constable of Essex Police, Ben-Julian Harrington, as they prepare to lay flowers, during a visit to Thurrock Council Offices in Thurrock, east of London, Oct. 28, 2019.Barriers to a crackdownPublic security officials could publicize the issues further and root out more smuggling organizers, Thayer said. They catch people only occasionally now, he added.But victims of discovered smuggling attempts lack the means to identify the heads of trafficking rings, he said, while Vietnam’s special economic zones with neighboring countries make it easy for citizens to leave.“The borders are porous and people can cross over,” Thayer said.Trafficking networks have thrived in Vietnam since at least the 19th century, often taking women and children to Hong Kong or mainland China for sale into marriage or prostitution, according to the 2015 book Human Trafficking in Colonial Vietnam.To stop women from entering abusive marriages with citizens of richer Asian countries, government officials in Vietnam now do rigorous background checks on marriage applications, said Frederick Burke, partner with the law firm Baker McKenzie in Ho Chi Minh City.“For sure they will be looking at what kind of controls (they can take)” after the case in England, he said. “They have huge issues with sale of wives. These are not new issues.”Common Vietnamese still see the UK deaths last month mainly as just a case of people being cheated by their group leader, Burke said. Looking at emigration for work overall, he said, a lot of Vietnamese still hold a “grass is greener on the other side of the fence mentality.”A portrait of Bui Thi Nhung, who is feared to be among the 39 people found dead in a truck in Britain, is kept on a prayer altar at her house in Vietnam’s Nghe An province, Oct. 27, 2019.Economic incentives miss the extreme poorAt home, Vietnamese officials effectively improve people’s livelihoods by encouraging foreign investment in export manufacturing, which creates jobs. The Southeast Asian country’s $300 billion economy will grow by up to 6.8% this year, SSI Research in Hanoi says. It expanded 7.1% in 2018, the highest rate in 11 years.Blue-collar wages of less than $200 per month, however, hardly compare to wages in the countries where trafficked people often end up today. Vietnamese still jump at chances to work in factories in Russia, do construction work in Libya and get hired on British farms.About 10% of Vietnam’s 95 million people live in poverty, sometimes in “pockets of extreme poverty” far from industrial job centers, IHS Markit Asia-Pacific chief economist Rajiv Biswas said.The government should address these pockets, some in the remote mountains, but will find it hard, he said.“Now the issue I think for Vietnam is addressing these pockets of poverty in mountain areas, which is quite difficult to do because (of) their ability to work in industrial jobs — they don’t have access to that kind of work,” Biswas said.
…

With home sales crashing, real estate agent Zhang Yonggang is tightening his belt, part of a plunge in Chinese consumer demand that is a bigger threat to economic growth than Beijing’s tariff war with Washington.Zhang, who works in the central city of Taiyuan, said his office sold no apartments last month after Beijing tightened lending controls in July to rein in housing costs and debt. Zhang, 42 and married with a teenage son, said his income has fallen by half from a year ago.“I have no money to buy a home and no plans to change cars,” Zhang said. “It is definitely the toughest time I’ve ever seen.”Communist leaders are counting on consumers to power China’s economy, replacing trade and investment. But shoppers, spooked by the tariff war and possible job losses, are cutting spending on cars, real estate and other big-ticket purchases.An employee dusts merchandise at a jewelry store in a shopping mall in Beijing, Oct. 31, 2019. Chinese leaders are counting on consumers to power the economy, replacing trade and investment as Beijing fights a tariff war with the U.S.…Economic warning signsEconomic growth sank to a three-decade low of 6% over a year earlier in the quarter ending in September. That is stronger than most major countries but a strain for Chinese companies that need to repay debt.Factory activity shrank more than expected in October, according to an official trade group, the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing. Analysts said that suggested an uptick a month earlier didn’t mark the start of a recovery.Communist leaders express confidence China can survive President Donald Trump’s tariff hikes on its exports.On Thursday, the ruling party’s Central Committee affirmed support for private business within an economy dominated by state industry and gave no sign of plans to change economic strategy.But leaders openly fret over slumping consumer spending and other domestic activity.Premier Li Keqiang, the top economic official, told local leaders last week to fight “downward pressure” on the economy and “make sure targets for this year are achieved.”“Many real economic entities are struggling amid weak domestic demand,” the premier said at a meeting with provincial governors, according to a Cabinet statement.People walk by a shopping mall reflected in a window of a subway station in Shenzhen, China’s Guangdong province, Oct. 31, 2019. China’s factory activity shrank more sharply than expected in October amid weak consumer demand and a tariff war.Beijing has tried to stick to plans to nurture self-sustaining, consumer-driven growth instead of resorting to stimulus, which usually means splurging on construction paid for with bank loans. That might re-ignite a surge in debt that forecasters estimate has risen as high as the equivalent of 300% of China’s annual economic output.“China is willing to accept slower growth, but only up to a point,” Rory Green of TS Lombard said in a report.If job losses spike, “of course Beijing will have to step in with a major stimulus,” Green said.Trade war’s uneven effectsTrump’s punitive duties on billions of dollars of Chinese goods in a fight over Beijing’s trade surplus and technology ambitions have battered exporters. But their impact on the rest of the economy has been smaller than some forecasters expected.And trade overall is stronger than expected. Shipments to the United States fell nearly 11% in the first nine months of 2019, but exports to the whole world were off only 0.1%.Retail sales rose 8.2% over a year earlier in the nine months ending in September. But some industries suffered painful contractions: Auto sales fell 11.7%.The pressures are reflected in Anna Li’s dilemma. The 28-year-old employee of an information technology company in Beijing plans to buy an apartment, but first she wants a new job. She has looked since last year and found nothing because companies have cut hiring.“I used to have a plan to buy an apartment next year, but now it depends on the success of my job hunting,” Li said.Growth forecastsThe International Monetary Fund is forecasting annual growth of 6.1% this year, down from last year’s 6.6% and just above the official minimum target of 6%. Next year, the IMF expects a further decline to 5.8%.Some analysts question whether China really is achieving even that growth and say the real rate may be closer to 3%. They blame flaws in data collection and political pressure to make results look better.Economic activity might be up to 21% smaller than official data show, according to Yingyao Hu and Jiaxiong Yao at Johns Hopkins University.Government data assume all investment pays off, but much spending in 2012-17 went into unproductive projects, say Hu and Yao. They cite evidence including satellite photos that show nighttime cities darker than they should be with more activity.That could mean Chinese debt is higher relative to the size of the economy than thought. That might further depress consumer demand because more national income must be diverted to repay debt.Xi rolls out welcome matLeaders are trying to reassure U.S. and other foreign companies that have postponed or moved planned investments out of China to avoid tariff hikes.Li, the premier, has told a string of American, European and other visiting business leaders they are welcome despite Beijing’s 15-month-old war with Trump.Beijing has announced market-opening measures over the past two years including abolishing limits on foreign ownership in securities trading, auto manufacturing and some other industries.The tariff war has made Beijing determined to adapt to slower growth and less reliance on debt in what it views as a period of strategic competition, said Green of TS Lombard.Chinese leaders don’t want to use credit-fueled stimulus and “leave themselves vulnerable to future economic and financial sanctions,” he said.Plus, Green said, Trump is “the perfect scapegoat” to blame for slower growth.
…

Anti-government protesters in Hong Kong, now in the fifth consecutive month of demonstrations, say they are seeking greater rights and freedoms amid what they perceive as growing repression by Beijing. That’s a call that resonates with the city’s sexual minorities, who are looking across the South China Sea to Taiwan, a self-governing Chinese territory that has challenged China’s strict legal — and social — views prohibiting gay marriage. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from Hong Kong.
…

The International Labor Organization in Vietnam has called for improved conditions for migrants — not just those who were among the 39 dead in a British truck container this month, but also migrants crossing the Mediterranean and in the Americas.
The organization called on officials to ensure there are safe and regular channels for migration rather than putting the burden on migrants. It did not refer to the deaths in Britain, now being investigated as possible manslaughter and human trafficking, but it joins the voices expressing concern about the dangerous conditions and the structural problems that could have allowed the deaths to happen.In Vietnam’s less-developed towns, like Da Lat, brokers post signs offering to take locals abroad to find work. (Ha Nguyen/VOA)  While globalization has fostered the flow of companies and capital across borders, it has not done so for workers, pushing them toward trafficking. The ILO said it is up to governments, employers, recruitment agencies and trade unions to change policies and practices. Its recommendations include coordination between countries of origin and destination, shifting the costs of migration from workers to employers, and making legal immigration less expensive and complex so migrants don’t resort to being trafficked.Coordination would increase the odds that a country would receive migrants with the skills it needs. Aging Japan, for example, works with other Asian countries that have large work forces, such as Vietnam, Cambodia, and the Philippines, to train workers on their way to Japan or looking for jobs there before they get to Japan. The idea is to match countries with labor surpluses with those that have labor shortages.The ILO suggested it is not helpful to focus on individuals, but on systemic change. For instance, researchers found that when the United States and Europe restricted migration, they did not stop migrants, but merely pushed them toward more dangerous channels.Vietnamese were surprised to hear their compatriots had gone abroad to find work, since the country has become much richer in recent years, featuring new attractions from hotel resorts, to luxury boutiques. (Ha Nguyen/VOA)“Irregular labor migration increases migrant workers’ vulnerability to exploitation, and limits the channels available to them to seek assistance and justice while abroad, as well as rendering them vulnerable to punishment by fines and other sanctions in Vietnam,” Chang-Hee Lee, the ILO country director in Hanoi, said Tuesday.His statement came nearly a week after police discovered the bodies outside London. The discovery has led to a manhunt in Northern Ireland, with one man being criminally charged, and confirmation that at least some of the 39 people in the truck were from Vietnam. Their deaths have put a spotlight on human trafficking and the kinds of people the ILO said “should be protected from abusive and fraudulent recruitment practices.”Vietnamese and British officials are working to identify those found in the container truck. Among Asian migrants, Vietnamese pay the highest costs to brokers, and the number of migrants is rising, according to the ILO. Its joint study with the International Organization of Migration found that roughly 75% of migrant Vietnamese “reported experiencing labor rights abuses while working abroad.”The ILO’s recommendations didn’t focus on criminalization. Instead the ILO also recommended authorities ensure migrants have access to the judicial system; many migrants, lacking documentation, are wary of reporting abuses to the authorities. 
…

At least five people are dead in the southern Philippines after it was struck by a powerful earthquake Thursday, the third one to hit the region this month.The U.S. Geological Survey says the 6.5 magnitude quake struck about 1 kilometer south of the town of Kisante on Mindanao island. The death toll included a local official killed when a village hall collapsed.At least eight residents of a five-story condominium in Davao city, the hometown of President Rodrigo Duterte, had to be rescued when the building collapsed.Duterte was in Davao at the time of the quake, but his spokesman says the president is safe.The region was struggling to recover from a 6.6 magnitude quake that killed at least eight people Tuesday, and a 6.4 magnitude earthquake that struck on October 16 that left at least five people dead. Hundreds of people were injured and scores of buildings were destroyed or damaged in the two quakes.The Philippine archipelago sits along the so-called “Ring of Fire,” a series of underground fault lines and volcanoes in the Pacific Ocean Basin, where most of the world’s earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur.
 
…

A fugitive financier will give up claims to hundreds of millions of dollars in luxury goods prosecutors say were purchased with money stolen from a Malaysian investment fund, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.Under the settlement with U.S. prosecutors, the financier, Jho Low, relinquishes claims to assets that were seized by U.S. officials beginning in 2016, the person said. The settlement would also allow millions of dollars in fees to be paid to Low’s legal team.The person was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.The settlement comes about three years after the Justice Department moved to recover more than $1 billion that it said had been stolen. It had filed a civil complaint that sought the forfeiture of property, including a Manhattan penthouse, a Beverly Hills mansion, a luxury jet and paintings by Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet.The Justice Department confirmed the settlement late Wednesday. U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna said: “The message in this case is simple: the United States is not a safe haven for pilfered funds. Our strict anti-money laundering controls are effective, and we will seize assets used by criminals to conceal ill-gotten gains.”Low issued a statement calling the settlement the result of good faith discussions between the parties.''Low was charged last year by federal prosecutors in New York. They accused him of being involved in a money laundering and bribery scheme that pilfered billions of dollars from the Malaysian investment fund. It was the first criminal prosecutions in the U.S. arising from the corruption scandal at the state investment fund known as 1MDB.The indictment against Low, who is also known as Low Taek Jho, accuses him of misappropriating money from the state-owned fund and using it for bribes and kickbacks to foreign officials, to pay for luxury real estate, art and jewelry in the United States and to help finance Hollywood movies, includingThe Wolf of Wall Street.”The fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad, was set up in 2009 by then-Prime Minister Najib Razak to promote economic development. It relied primarily on debt to fund investment and economic development projects and was overseen by senior Malaysian government officials, according to court records.Najib set up 1MDB when he took office in 2009, but it accumulated billions in debts, and U.S. investigators allege at least $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund and laundered by Najib’s associates.Public anger over the corruption allegations contributed to the shocking election defeat of Najib’s long-ruling coalition in May 2018.
…

In Myanmar’s Kachin State, eight years of conflict and displacement has caused some civilians to turn to drugs as authorities struggle to control and rehabilitate heroin and amphetamine addicts, both in the refugee camps and cities across the state. Users and officials tell of the struggles – both on and off the battlefield. Steve Sandford filed this report for VOA
…

China’s direct investment in the U.S. has slowed to a trickle, dropping by 80% from 2016 to 2018, according to New York-based research provider Rhodium Group. Among the hardest-hit sectors are real estate and hospitality, with Chinese investors no longer scrambling to buy prime properties in cities such as New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles.Chinese real estate investment in the U.S. tripled from 2015 to 2016, reaching a record $16.5 billion. In contrast, not one real estate and hospitality investment reached more than $100 million during 2018, the Rhodium Group found. Chinese developer Oceanwide Holdings’ U.S. footprint includes prime properties in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Construction reportedly has been suspended on one of the towers at the San Francisco Oceanwide Center, while construction has come to a standstill at the Los Angeles Oceanwide Plaza.“The skylines are no longer filled with cranes, really supplied by Chinese investments coming over here in the downtown region,” said Stephen Cheung, president of World Trade Center Los Angeles and executive vice president of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation.  “What we’re worried about [is] the construction that’s already here that cannot be finished because of the financing situations,” Cheung said.Construction work stalledThe billion-dollar Oceanwide Plaza is located in a prized location near the Los Angeles convention center and the complex where the Lakers and Clippers play basketball. Construction stalled in January for the condo, hotel and retail space, and Cheung said he has seen very little activity since then.The standstill at Oceanwide Plaza is but one sign of a sharp drop in capital flowing from China at a time of heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing.  Overall, direct foreign investment between the two superpowers peaked in 2016 to a record $60 billion, then dropped drastically, according to the Rhodium Group.One reason for the decline is a change in China’s monetary policy.“There were the currency controls out of China, where a lot of companies were parking money. I think it was probably to get money out of China into a safe investment. And at the end of the day, the Chinese cracked down,” said Dale Goldsmith, a land use lawyer and managing partner at Armbruster Goldsmith & Delvac LLP.“The Chinese companies couldn’t get the money out of China even though they committed to certain projects. So certain projects here we’ve seen stalled,” Cheung said.Another reason for the drop in direct Chinese investment is increased vigilance by a federal watchdog organization, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). The Rhodium Group estimates the committee’s scrutiny has led Chinese investors to abandon more than $2.5 billion in U.S. deals.A relatively strong U.S. economy is another factor.“The dollar has been very strong, making investment a lot less attractive for the Chinese and in the states. On top of it, you’d have skyrocketing construction costs,” Goldsmith said.To top it all off, a trade war persists between the U.S. and China, sowing uncertainty in an already challenging investment climate.“As the tension is escalating, I think a lot of the Chinese companies are wary in terms of whether they should enter the U.S. market,” Cheung added.Southeast Asia gainsThe trade war is creating another trend: to avoid high tariffs, international companies are moving manufacturing out of China and into Southeast Asian countries.US-China Trade War is Good News for Some CountriesTeaser DescriptionThe continuing trade war between the U.S. and China may be causing businesses in both countries extreme anxiety, but the trade dispute is good news for businesses in other countries as many companies have or are moving their manufacturing away from China. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has the details on why Vietnam is attractive to one company in Southern California.In some countries, such as Vietnam, the trade war is creating new wealth.To offset a potentially negative impact of the trade war in a country such as Indonesia, Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat, a research associate at the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance in Jakarta, advised in an op-ed he co-authored in that Indonesia increase its direct foreign investment. In Los Angeles, Cheung said he is seeing a “massive influx” of interests from Southeast Asian countries.“Vietnam is now looking very carefully into the Los Angeles region, given the Southern California region has such a large Vietnamese population,” he said. “We’re also working with our partners in Singapore and Indonesia and Thailand to really expand those opportunities, because we have been dependent on China for such a long time.”We really have to look for alternate solutions as this trade war continues, that trade tension continues, and investment is slowing down significantly,” Cheung added.So long as economic tensions remain high between Washington and Beijing, Los Angeles and other U.S. cities will have to look elsewhere for investment capital.
…

The head of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank pushed back on Tuesday against U.S. assertions that China’s Belt and Road lending has unfairly saddled poor countries with unsustainable debt.Jin Liqun, AIIB’s president, said during an investment conference panel discussion that debt problems associated with China’s massive infrastructure drive were often the result of long-standing fiscal mismanagement.”The debt problems of these poor countries were accumulated over the years. I don’t think it’s fair to put it down to the Belt and Road initiative,” Jin said at the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh.He appeared on a panel with World Bank President David Malpass, who as a senior Treasury Department official in the Trump administration was highly critical of Belt and Road lending, telling the U.S. Congress in December 2018 that it “often leaves countries with excessive debt and poor-quality projects.”Jin defended the program’s purpose as being aimed at upgrading infrastructure to improve the growth and development potential of many countries.”But we should learn from the history. For many countries I think the issue is not whether you borrowed the money from outside, it’s how you spend the money you borrow,” Jin said. “You spend it well or not.”He said China borrowed heavily from external sources over the past 40 years, but spent the money “judiciously” and never experienced a debt repayment problem.”You need to look at the debtor. The debtor will speak for themselves,” Jin said. He added that multilateral development banks such as the AIIB and World Bank help debtor countries prioritize which projects they should pursue and which can wait.FILE – World Bank President David Malpass speaks at a news conference during the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings in Washington, April 11, 2019.Malpass agreed that it was important to invest in quality projects that benefit a country’s population and said there needed to be more transparency in infrastructure lending, including the collateral, liens and other terms to avoid hidden clauses in contracts.”The debt burden has been going up so fast that the end result has been quite a few projects that the people of the country didn’t need,” he said, without naming specific cases.In 2017, Sri Lanka handed control of its Chinese-financed Hambantota port to Beijing as it struggled with $8 billion in debt owed to Chinese state-controlled firms. In 2018, Pakistan scaled back a Belt and Road railroad project to cope with mounting debt. 
…