China’s foreign minister Wang Yi made a brief visit to Sri Lanka on 9 January, in the last leg of his trip to the Maldives and three other East African countries — Eritrea, Kenya, and Comoros. Obviously, the FM’s trip had not only a regional context but also an Indo-Pacific one. As members of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), these countries are groaning under debt servicing problems, particularly after the Covid-19 pandemic badly affected their economy. Read More…