The World Bank announced its plans to aid China with up to $1.5 billion in low-interest-rate loans despite objections from top U.S. officials who cite concerns about human rights abuse and unfair economic practices.
The World Bank said its board approved a plan to provide China with $1 to 1.5 billion in low-interest loans through June 2025. The five-year lending strategy to support China’s structural and environmental reforms gained «broad support» from the board. Under the new plan, lending would decline gradually compared with the last five-year plan which averaged $1.8 billion in loans.
In the fiscal year of 2019 ended June 30, the World Bank loaned $1.3 billion to China, down from $2.4 billion in the same period in 2017. «Lending levels may fluctuate up and down from year to year due to normal pipeline management based on project readiness,» said a «Reuters» report citing the World Bank plan.
Starkly Different View
Whilst the World Bank noted that Beijing requested for continued financing from its International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and for it to act as «platforms for reform, institution building, and knowledge transfer,» U.S. officials had a starkly different view.
U.S. treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin objected to the plans and said he wanted the World Bank to «graduate» China from its concessional lending designed for low and middle-income countries. Elsewhere, American lawmakers stepped up their rhetoric even further to express dismay in the World Bank’s latest decision.
Not $1
«The World Bank, using American tax dollars, should not be lending to wealthy countries that violate the human rights of their citizens and attempt to dominate weaker countries either militarily or economically,» said Senate finance committee chairman Charles Grassley, referring to ongoing allegations about Beijing’s activities in Xinjiang.
«For me, even a dollar is too much for our taxpayers to be contributing to China,» added Republican representative Anthony Gonzalez.
