SYDNEY - China’s is using “pay-day loan diplomacy” to exert influence in the Pacific, the new U.S. ambassador to Australia said on Wednesday, comments that threaten to inflame regional tensions.
The United States and its regional allies have been battling China for greater influence in the Pacific - a region that has votes at international forums like the United Nations and controls vast swathes of a resource-rich ocean. Late last year U.S. Vice President Mike Pence accused China of ensnaring tiny island nations in foreign aid “debt traps”.
China’s embassy in Australia did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but China’s Ambassador to Australia last year said Beijing does not place undue debt on the region.
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