The Analysis of China's “Debt Diplomacy” in the South Caucasus

Abstract

China's "One Belt, One Road" state program has been developing for a long period. The growing scale of Chinese cooperation with the South Caucasus in recent years has turned Beijing into a highly influential force in the region. Given these recent regional developments, the work is aimed to find out the probability of South Caucasus countries falling into China's 'debt trap'. The main reason proving the usage of politics in a certain area is the concept of "soft power", but in reality, so-called cooperation, under which a country assists others by an influx of foreign income with the hidden intention to gain power over a certain region. The accusations from journals and different scientific sources went viral not only in China but also in The Western World, showing potential inclinations toward this policy. Thus, the amount of turnover in international trade of The South Caucasus with China, its public debts, and China's foreign investments in this region are comparatively examined. Based on all these evaluations, the work analyzes the reasons for the rising unrest in by analyzing the development of the Caucasian States' relationship with China to reveal the intentions of this state. Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia both the good and the bad which will be meticulously examined to determine the cause because of which China included them in the project "Belt and Road". Therefore, the possible advantages of the so-called cooperation between these states and China will be disclosed. The study contributes to a certain shortage of comparison in terms of analysis of countries within this region from the perspective of China's debt diplomacy.

Keywords

• China
• debt trap
• Azerbiajan
• Georgia
• Armenia

Çin'in Güney Kafkasya'daki “Borç Diplomasisi”nin Analizi

Öz

Çin'in "Bir Kuşak, Bir Yol" devlet programı uzun bir süredir gelişmektedir. Son yıllarda Çin'in Güney Kafkasya ile artan işbirliği ölçeği, Pekin'i bölgede oldukça etkili bir güç haline getirmiştir. Bu son bölgesel gelişmeler göz önüne alındığında, çalışma, Güney Kafkasya ülkelerinin Çin'in 'borç tuzağına' düşme olasılığını araştırmayı amaçlamaktadır. Belirli bir alanda politikanın kullanımını kanıtlayan ana neden "yumuşak güç" kavramıdır, ancak gerçekte, sözde işbirliği, bir ülkenin belirli bir bölge üzerinde güç kazanma niyetiyle yabancı gelir akışıyla diğerlerine yardım ettiği bir durumu ifade eder. Dergilerden ve çeşitli bilimsel kaynaklardan gelen suçlamalar sadece Çin'de değil, aynı zamanda Batı Dünyasında da viral hale gelmiş, bu politikaya yönelik potansiyel eğilimleri göstermiştir. Bu nedenle, Güney Kafkasya'nın Çin ile uluslararası ticaretindeki ciro miktarı, kamu borçları ve Çin'in bu bölgeye yaptığı yabancı yatırımlar karşılaştırmalı olarak incelenmektedir. Tüm bu değerlendirmelere dayanarak, çalışma, Kafkasya Devletleri'nin Çin ile ilişkilerinin gelişimini analiz ederek bu devletin niyetlerini ortaya çıkarmak için artan huzursuzluğun nedenlerini analiz etmektedir. Azerbaycan, Gürcistan ve Ermenistan'ın hem iyi hem de kötü yönleri titizlikle incelenecek ve Çin'in onları "Kuşak ve Yol" projesine dahil etmesinin nedeni belirlenecektir. Bu nedenle, bu devletler ile Çin arasındaki sözde işbirliğinin olası avantajları ortaya konulacaktır. Çalışma, Çin'in borç diplomasisi perspektifinden bu bölgedeki ülkelerin karşılaştırmalı analizi açısından belirli bir eksikliğe katkıda bulunmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Çin
• Güney Kafkasya
• Borc Tuzağı
• Gürcüstan
• Azerbaycan
• Ermenistan

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