BEIJING/BRUSSELS - China is struggling to ease worries about President Xi Jinping's signature plan to build a new Silk Road as it readies for a major summit in late April, especially among Western nations wary about debt, transparency and Chinese influence.
The country's top diplomat, Mr Yang Jiechi, said on Saturday that almost 40 foreign leaders would come, and also took a swipe at"prejudiced" critics of the programme who seek to besmirch it with concerns like"debt traps". Mr Wu Haitao, charge d'affaires of China's Permanent Mission to the United Nations, said the rebuke was"contrary to the facts and fraught with prejudice".
Last week, Europe's top leaders told Mr Xi they wanted a fairer trading relationship with China, signalling an openness to engage with the project if it meant more access to the Chinese market. "For China, it is a question of power projection. China is corrupting what should be a level playing field by offering loans that send country debts soaring and create a culture of economic dependency on Beijing," one EU official said.
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