Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Foreign Minister of Maldives Abdulla Shahid sign documents during the signing ceremony at the end of the meeting at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, in Beijing, China September 20, 2019. Andrea Verdelli/Pool via REUTERS
BEIJING (Reuters) - The Maldives are not "mired in a Chinese debt trap", the Chinese government's top diplomat told the visiting Maldivian foreign minister, amid fears in the Indian Ocean country of debts as high as $3 billion owing to Beijing.
The Indian Ocean island chain has been caught in a battle for influence between India and China, which invested millions of dollars during the rule of the pro-China former leader Abdulla Yameen as part of China's Belt and Road plan, designed to improve its global trade reach.
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