Vanuatu presidential palace funded by China stirs debt fears
Beijing says ‘no strings attached’ to the complex unveiled last month amid wider concerns over loans the Pacific country owes to China
Perched atop Port Vila, Vanuatu’s seaside capital, sits a gleaming red and white building, gifted to the Pacific country by China last month. The new presidential palace has a coveted position in town, high on a hill and overlooking the prime minister’s office, a building which was similarly renovated thanks to a hefty Chinese donation almost a decade ago.
The multimillion dollar complex is the latest in a long line of gifts and infrastructure projects offered to Vanuatu by Beijing, transforming several towns and villages in the small island nation of just over 300,000 people. They include a suite of new government ministry buildings, the country’s parliament house, road construction projects on several islands, the rebuilding of a sports stadium, a new wharf, and the donation of a massive convention centre that often sits empty in the middle of town.
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