Published May 21, 2021, 11:45 AM
Think thanks and anti-corruption advocates have warned of China’s massive global infrastructure projects called the “Belt Road Initiative” (BRI) as they raised transparency issues and the country’s geopolitical interest.
In the recent virtual town hall discussion of Stratbase Albert del Rosario Institute on “Belt Road Initiative (BRI) and Corrosive Capital: Mitigating Corruption Risks in the Philippines”, Regional Director of international think tank, Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) Jon Morrell said, “A democratic government simply cannot borrow money from secret sources for secret purposes on secret terms and be considered a democratic government.”
Alluding to China loans, Morrel explained, “There are ironclad non-disclosure clauses in the loan documents which means that you are violating the terms of the loan if you disclose to the public the terms of the loan.”