Hezbollah head prefers China to IMF for Lebanon bailout

Hezbollah chief claims China is poised to fill Lebanon’s economic gap through train, port and power plant outlays

By ALISON TAHMIZIAN MEUSE

China is prepared to invest in key infrastructure projects in Lebanon should the crisis-hit country embrace the East, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah announced Tuesday night.

“Chinese companies are ready to inject money into this country,” he said in a speech on Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television.

One of the most important and quickly-realizable projects would be the revival of Lebanon’s coastal railway, from Naqoura on the southern border with Israel to Tripoli on the northern border with Syria, according to Nasrallah.

“If this happened, it would bring money to the country, bring investment, create job opportunities, allow heavy transport, and so on,” the Shiite leader said.

China has long expressed interest in Lebanon’s northern port of Tripoli as a link for its Belt and Road Initiative, involving a railway that would be key to the reconstruction of Syria.

It has thus far steered away from any major investment, however, amid ratcheting US sanctions on Damascus.

The Chinese embassy in Lebanon was not immediately available for comment on Nasrallah’s statements.

Nasrallah condemned a new round of expanded US sanctions under the Ceasar Act, but suggested these would not halt Chinese investment in Lebanon, if the Lebanese were ready to reach out to Beijing.

The Chinese are poised, Nasrallah said, to construct a new electricity plant for Lebanon.

Lebanon’s electricity sector is notoriously wasteful, polluting and corrupt, wracking up well over US$1 billion in debt each year while failing to provide more than half a day of power in most of the country.

The Hezbollah leader pointed to Iran as a logical source for Lebanon’s energy needs, and one which would be amenable to a barter system insulated from the US Treasury.

“I say to the Lebanese people, there are alternatives,” he emphasized.

Beijing, Nasrallah argued, could offer more rapid and likely funding for Lebanon than a sought-after $10 billion IMF bailout, which is expected to take more than a year to negotiate – if it is accepted.

Nasrallah’s call to look East echoes guidance that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei offered Islamic Republic officials following the breakdown of the nuclear treaty with world powers……More Here

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