海角大神

Adding a new angle to China鈥檚 ongoing quest for global leadership,聽Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a gift of $2 billion in global development aid.

Speaking at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit on Saturday,聽Mr. Xi said that China will aim to , while also forgiving some countries鈥� loan debts, to support the UN鈥檚 new set of development goals. Among the most ambitious of the list鈥檚 17 goals is to eliminate extreme poverty, defined as living on less than $1.25 a day, by 2030.

Announcing the gift, Xi pointed to his own country鈥檚 successes: China鈥檚 aggressive economic growth raised its citizens鈥� per capita income fivefold between 2000 and 2010. That progress made up over 75 percent of the world鈥檚 poverty reduction in the 1990s and early 2000s, , and is responsible for the UN achieving its previous millennium development goal of cutting extreme poverty in half.

Douglas H. Paal, the vice president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, that Xi鈥檚 gift 鈥渞eflects an acceptance of China鈥檚 increasing global responsibility.鈥�

Over the past few years, China鈥檚 most visible bids for global influence have been military, as it ramps up efforts to control contested water and islands in the South China Sea聽鈥� military muscle it showed off in a massive parade of over 12,000 troops earlier this month.

Behind the scenes, however, China has quickly with some of the world鈥檚 least developed, or most troubled, countries: today, renminbi account for 30 percent of all foreign investment in Syria, a whopping 82 percent in Zimbabwe, and even 20 percent in debt-stricken Greece.聽

As a 聽discovered this summer, 鈥淐hina is going where the West is reluctant to tread, either for financial or political reasons 鈥� or both,鈥� creating lucrative development deals with nations unlikely, or unwilling, to receive similar assistance from standard sources such as the I.M.F. or the World Bank: lenders whose deals come with conditions, but also, perhaps, more transparency.

In Ecuador, for instance, where China stepped in with an $11 billion loan, it has helped finance a slew of energy projects, from dams to mining. In return, the South American nation of 16 million is required to cede control of some natural resources, such as almost 90 percent of its oil exports, and contract with Chinese construction companies, in addition to paying off the loans鈥� interest, according to .

For some, China鈥檚 increased development work is a welcome sign of international cooperation. Xi promised the UN on Saturday that China was ready to put 鈥渏ustice before interests,鈥� and wanted to encourage global 鈥淪outh-South cooperation,鈥� according to the . After the Times released its investigation, which summed up, 鈥淪uch deals typically favor the Chinese,鈥� reader Abel Figueroa ,

China has conquered geopolitcally through the market and/or economy,聽selling cheaper products to eat, wear, shoes, technology, etc. On the contrary, the United States and its allies proceed with wars, pillage, colonizations, without making anything cheaper.

Others worry, however, that harmful side effects of China鈥檚 rapid industrialization will also make their way into countries receiving Chinese aid. China鈥檚 mining industry , despite recent progress, and estimates that 4,000 Chinese citizens die each day because of its notorious air pollution.聽

Up to , particularly in rural areas, but most have benefitted economically from the country鈥檚 . But according to Gallup polls, Chinese rate their as having shifted little over the past decade.