Highway 2000: Chinese Asset Trap Diplomacy in Jamaica
Abstract
This paper discusses China's growing geopolitical leverage using Jamaica's North-South Link of the Highway 2000 project as an example of China's coercive investment technique of asset trap diplomacy. The highway project has similarities to Chinese debt-trap diplomacy in Sri Lanka, which saw that country hand over a deep-water port to China for a century-long lease in exchange for debt relief. However, in the case of Jamaica, China has employed restrictive asset control rather than unaffordable debt repayment as the mechanism by which they might seek future concessions. The study highlights this case as part of a recurring pattern of Chinese infrastructure investments in developing nations under the Belt and Road Initiative that combine to form a growing portfolio of economic leverage. This new asset trap strategy insulates itself from debt repudiation because it is backed by contracts negotiated within a strong domestic legal framework. However, there are prior historical cases in which countries repudiated debt and the international system concurred that the debt was illegitimate. This paper argues that Peoples Republic of China debt and asset trap strategies are similarly vulnerable to host nations later disputing the legitimacy of Chinese malinvestments through unilateral default or by redress in each nations domestic legal system.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 08, 2023
- Accession Number
- AD1207521
Entities
People
- Brian M. Sperlongano
Organizations
- Naval War College