Published: 9:50pm, 27 Feb 2025Updated: 10:17pm, 27 Feb 2025
US President Donald Trump is looking to forge more deals to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Advertisement
“I think there’s more big deals like that coming under President Trump,” Rubio told Breitbart News when asked about the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor.
Earlier this month, Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to collaborate on the project, which aims to build transport links from India and the Middle East to Europe
The Belt and Road Initiative, a transcontinental infrastructure scheme, has raised concern in Washington about Beijing’s expanding influence. It has seen more than 150 countries signing cooperation agreements but has prompted accusations about the risk of debt traps – claims China has denied.
“It is not in our interest to live in a world, particularly in a hemisphere we call home, surrounded by countries that have taken on loans and debt from China that put them at China’s mercy,” Rubio said.
Advertisement
He warned that the initiative would “threaten” US interests and lead to China dominating its trading partners, but Trump was working to “reverse all of that”.
Rubio also said countries in the Indo-Pacific, including Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia and India, want the US to “remain engaged and involved”.