China's Loan Recall Sends Shockwaves Across Developing Countries.

China's reluctance to forgive debt and its extreme secrecy about how much money it has loaned and on what terms has left a dozen poor countries facing economic instability and even collapse under the weight of hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign loans. Paying back that debt is consuming an ever-greater amount of the tax revenue needed to keep schools open, provide electricity and pay for food and fuel. Two of them, Zambia and Sri Lanka, have already gone into default, unable to make even interest payments on loans financing the construction of ports, mines and power plants. Experts predict that unless China begins to soften its stance on its loans to poor countries, there could be a wave of more defaults and political upheavals.