CCP ‘Creating an Empire’ Exploiting International Financial Systems: Rep. Lucas

Communist China is exploiting international financial systems and engaging in predatory loan schemes to unfairly advantage itself, according to one congressman. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is creating economic dependencies to ensure nations worldwide cannot break away from its influence, Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) said. “The Chinese operate by different standards than the rest of the world,” Mr. Lucas said during a Feb. 5 talk at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank. “[They’re] creating an empire reminiscent of the colonial period.” Mr. Lucas said that the regime was granting “lavish” spending terms for loans to authoritarian and underdeveloped nations, whom he compared to the victims of a loan shark. In many instances, he said, the regime knew that the recipients of such financing would not be able to pay and would be subject to stringent terms further indebting them to Beijing....