Vantage | Is Muizzu leading Maldives into a Chinese debt trap?

China is now hosting Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu, who is on a five-day state visit there. Wednesday was Muizzu’s big day in Beijing. First was his visit to the Communist Party Museum, where Muizzu looked thoroughly floored. He got a video tour of Chinese history. He tried his hand at a simulator and finally signed the visitor’s log. Next was the main event: Muizzu’s date with Xi Jinping. Muizzu and the first lady got a ceremonial welcome at the Great Hall of People. He inspected a guard of honour. He got a 21-gun salute. Then he got down to business. “I’m undertaking this visit to your beautiful country with seven ministers of my cabinet as a clear demonstration of my strong commitment and desire to reinvigorate the Maldives’ long-standing friendship with the government and the people of China and to discuss ways of expanding it for the benefit of our people and our two countries," said the Maldivian President. This is a classic Chinese strategy: Give your guest a tour, show off your impressive infrastructure, and then hold bilateral talks. The idea is simple: By the time you get down to business, you are overawed and already impressed by China’s might. Then, it’s Xi Jinping’s turn to put the finishing touches. Under the new situation, relations between China and the Maldives are facing a historical opportunity to build on what has been achieved and chart the way forward. Xi thinks it is a historical opportunity for him, and yes, indeed, it is, but for the Maldives? Perhaps not really. This is a country already sinking under Chinese debt. Malé owes China more than 1.3 billion dollars, and that is 20 percent of its total debt. So, logically, what should Muizzu do? He should stay away from Chinese loans and investments, and that’s what the World Bank told them last year. But Muizzu is doing the opposite. He has signed 20 agreements with China, which cover a number of sectors and industries like tourism, disaster management, the blue economy, and the digital economy. Of course, infrastructure is on the table. Muizzu and Xi agreed to accelerate a number of projects under the Belt and Road Initiative. They also elevated the ties to a new level — Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership. But the question is: Why? China has a history of debt traps. Maldives already owes them 20 percent of its debt. So why go back for seconds? To understand that, we need to look at President Muizzu.

In 2012, he became the Maldives’ Housing and Infrastructure Minister and held that position until 2018. At that time, China invested a lot of money — around 138 million dollars. In 2015, China won the contract to upgrade an airport — Velana International Airport — at the cost of 373 million dollars. In 2016, another project was awarded to build a bridge between three Maldivian islands, costing 63 million dollars. It was first called the China-Maldives friendship bridge and later renamed Sina-Malé bridge. So that’s three major projects in five years. And Mohamed Muizzu was the infrastructure minister during this time. So clearly, he has dealt with Beijing in the past, and chances are, those contacts remain.

The President of BUCG International – Beijing Urban Construction Group, Mr. CHANG Yongchun has paid a courtesy call on H.E. President Dr @MMuizzu. Senior representatives of BUCG also participated in the meeting, which was centred on avenues of cooperation in development. pic.twitter.com/0JJbtGV9Pf

— The President's Office (@presidencymv) January 11, 2024

Muizzu had a meeting with Chang Yong Chun, president of Beijing Urban Construction Group. They’ve built some iconic structures in the Chinese capital, like the 2008 Olympics venues. But they have also built a seaplane terminal at the Velana airport in the Maldives. Again, the project was given when Muizzu was the Infrastructure Minister. He has kept those contacts alive. In 2022, Muizzu addressed some Communist Party officials at an online event. “Our party’s return would script a further chapter of strong ties between our two countries,” said Muizzu. So the love for China isn’t new. It has been part of Muizzu’s career, but to bring China in, he had to push ‘India out’. So he made New Delhi the enemy with blatant misinformation, and we are not saying this. European election observers had visited the Maldives during the elections. They spent around 11 weeks there. Now, they have submitted a report to the EU. The report says: “The campaign included anti-Indian sentiments, based on fears of Indian influences and anxiety regarding the presence of Indian military personnel inside the country. This theme was subject to multiple online disinformation attempts." In simpler words, it means fake news. Muizzu drummed up fears of Indian influence in the Maldives. He radicalised his supporters, and now he is cosying up to Beijing. This raises multiple questions about the president. Is he China’s man in Malé? Did he get help from China during the elections? He wouldn’t be the first. Reports say: China funded Mahinda Rajapaksa’s election campaign in Sri Lanka. So Beijing has a history of doing this. China also has a history of cutting and running. Muizzu should be mindful of that. If not, he could be the next victim. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost_’s views._ Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.