Laos opens railway to China as debt to Beijing rises
ABC News
The prime minister of Laos has ridden the first run of a $5.9 billion Chinese-built train connecting his isolated, mountainous country with southern China
BEIJING -- After a blessing by Buddhist monks, Lao Prime Minister Phankham Viphavanh on Friday rode the first run of a $5.9 billion Chinese-built railway that links isolated, mountainous Laos with southern China in an effort to increase trade.
Both governments tout the 1,035-kilometer (642-mile) line from the Lao capital, Vientiane to Kunming in China’s poor southwest as a boost to economic growth. But it leaves a debt that foreign experts warn Laos, a country of 7 million people wedged between China, Vietnam and Thailand, might struggle to repay.
The railway is one of hundreds of projects under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative to build ports, railways and other facilities across Asia, Africa and the Pacific. Poor countries welcome the initiative, but some complain they are left owing too much to Chinese banks.
The first train pulled out of Vientiane following an inauguration ceremony conducted by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Lao counterpart, Thongloun Sisoulith, over a video link from their capitals, the Lao news agency reported.
