Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Thursday warned Philippines about becoming too indebted to China as Manila draws down Chinese funds to build much-needed infrastructure. Earlier this week, the Philippine Senate conducted an inquiry into the interest rates and questionable terms offered by China that had been lapped up by the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, who is keen to improve infrastructure in the country. China had opened a $9 billion credit line to Philippines during Duterte's state visit to Beijing in 2016. Of that amount, at least $300 million has been agreed in loans to develop dams and irrigation projects so far.
"If you borrow huge sums of money from China and you cannot pay, you know when a person is a borrower he is under the control of the lender, so we have to be very careful with that," Mahathir told ABS-CBN News Channel before his bilateral meeting with Duterte.
"If you borrow huge sums of money from China and you cannot pay, you know when a person is a borrower he is under the control of the lender, so we have to be very careful with that," Mahathir told ABS-CBN News Channel before his bilateral meeting with Duterte.
