The director of the Harriman Institute, Alexander Cooley, wrote a piece for the University of Toronto’s blog Belt & Road in Global Perspective titled “Understanding Corruption Opportunities and Networks in China’s BRI Projects in Central Asia.”

Cooley says, “One of the emerging memes of China’s Belt and Road Initiative’s possible impact is a concern about the potential to fuel corruption in partnering countries. Often phrased as ‘governance problems,’ critics speculate that substantial investments in large-scale infrastructure projects—such as road-building, railways, pipelines, and power generation plants—may flood BRI partner countries with loans and investments that they are unable to absorb and might fuel local bribe-taking and graft.” Read more >