Buying the Philippines

Beijing

China showered the Philippines with loans this week, in the latest demonstration of its new economic might. China pledged nearly $4 billion to fund farming of rice and corn, and approved another $500 million as a direct loan to the Philippine government. Asian and African countries increasingly prefer borrowing from China rather than international financial institutions, because China doesn’t require its debtors to follow strict rules about balancing budgets or streamlining tax policy. The Philippines has a wish list of projects worth another $28 billion that it wants China to fund.