The latest crisis emanating from Afghanistan has indeed dented the US’ hegemony, but its seeds were sown following the global financial crisis of 2008. AIDdata on over 17,000 Chinese investments released last month showed that China had been dispensing more loans than grants in the form of help to countries.

       Now, a further analysis by Business Standard indicates that Chinese influence has been growing since 2008. Until 2009, China had made commitments worth $32.6 billion (USD constant 2017), but in the following nine years (until 2017), its loans to governments and ...