Western countries have spent decades doing similar things in Africa, often with blank checks thru institutions such as the IMF. And of course the ROI is rarely there; but China has played the game differently. When these poor countries ultimately cannot afford to pay back the loans, they take land/ports/infrastructure, which they also built to Chinese standards (requiring Chinese products forever). They also use their own citizens as the laborers, so the total risk is far more minimized. It’s a new more modern version of colonialism except with less violence and everyone thinks it’s a good deal to begin with. They’re not doing these things out of the goodness of their heart.
Less violence for now. Colonialism didn't start off with armies, it too started off with trade. Only later forms of colonialism when with war from the get go.
