China refutes claims it is taking over Juba airport over unsettled $1.96 billion debt

JUBA – The Chinese Embassy in South Sudan has dismissed media reports claiming that it is planning to take over Juba International Airport over government failure to pay off its loan amounting to $2.96 billion.

South Sudan has become one of the latest African countries to fall into Chinese debt-traps after Kenya, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Ethiopia.

In 2016, the South Sudanese government requested $1.9 billion from China to boost its developmental projects including to repair key oilfields ravaged by years of conflict.

“The rumors have been made up to exaggerate the amount of China’s loan to South Sudan, so as to blame China for creating a “debt trap,” the Chinese embassy in Juba said in a statement, according to the Dawn Newspaper.

The Chinese mission said the claim being spread by a small number of people is meant to attack China-South Sudan cooperation groundlessly.

“Such ridiculous tales are not new. They are just the same as the hype tactics of some forces in other countries and regions in recent years. It is not too difficult for people to judge the purpose behind the story,” it said.

 “The rumors have been made up to exaggerate the amount of China’s loan to South Sudan, so as to blame China for creating a “debt trap” Such ridiculous tales are not new. They are just the same as the hype tactics of some forces in other countries and regions in recent years. It is not too difficult for people to judge the purpose behind the story,” the statement added.

According to the statistics of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), so far Chinese loans only account for about 10% of South Sudan’s total loans, and most of South Sudan’s debts are commercial loans issued by financial institutions of other countries and regions.

However, the amount of China’s loan to South Sudan fabricated by the false story is said to be several times the total amount of South Sudan’s external debts.

“The implication that China creates a “debt trap” is therefore totally groundless. We hope that the producers of the story can at least do some homework out of their busy schedule of spreading misinformation, otherwise they will only degenerate themselves, lose credibility and fall into the moral trap set by themselves,” it explained.