China has emerged as one of the potential superpowers at the global front after the end of the cold war. China’s need for power and supremacy, particularly in the South Asian region has grown significantly. In the neoliberal era, where the definition of power has drastically changed from military capabilities to economic, Chinese ambitions for South Asia cannot be understood in isolation. Along with planning the Belt and Road Initiative, which China is building to get access to many countries, it uses debt-trap diplomacy towards smaller countries to win influence over them. In short, for strategically situated nations this method allows Beijing to develop infrastructure and capital and provides connectivity and trade facilitation internationally, making China the regional economic hub while on the other hand the Peoples Republic of China gains their support in diplomatic matters at the global level. In this background the article is an attempt to analyses the Chinese debt-trap policy in Sri Lanka.
