With the conclusion of the Second World War and the rise of China’s strategic thinking, there resulted a slow but calculated pathway to be recruiting other nations as subordinate debtors. China adopted this approach during its development, especially in regions like South Asia, Africa, and Latin America, where developing countries now struggle economically, and have been termed “debt traps”. The most notable project in China’s aggressive foreign policy paradigm is the Belt and Road Initiative. China is using this initiative as a soft power subjugation tool to establish economic dominion over countries. What The BRI intended to be is a marketing platform that serves cross-country trade and infrastructure development. In reality, it serves as an elaborate political web of control, economic servitude, and geopolitical subjugation. Instead of changing their political systems, China seizes primary operational control of harbors, power plants, and other critical pieces of infrastructure to achieve complete hegemony over that part of the world. Once a nation has been ensnared, that nation’s sovereignty ceases to function, leaving them virtually impossible to escape from the control that China has over them. China's economy isn’t just sitting back as an investor, it’s an emerging global superpower. With over 100 countries and BRI-related business deals that include agreements, projects, and investments, It is becoming clear that this initiative goes beyond simply fostering development. Rather, it is a carefully orchestrated scheme to undermine a nation’s ability to exercise autonomous control over its policy-making. The cases of Sri Lanka, Zambia, Kenya, Laos, and Pakistan are no longer outliers; they are blueprints for an emerging reality wherein Chinese loans signify the onset of a new, nefarious form of subjugation, wherein sovereignty is relinquished under the pretense of advancement. Aiding China in its quest to achieve unprecedented global influence in the last decade, China had financed 13,427 development projects worth 843 billion dollar spread across 165 countries. These funds are often disguised as “soft terms” and “cooperation deeds,” but the contracts have proven opaque, excessively confidential, and decidedly unfavorable towards Chinese contractors. In essence, China finances the project and then leaves its implementation to local contractors while the people bear the burden of paying off the debt. Such practices inflicted economic devastation and a national loss of policies to self-defend, as well as a depletion of local resources. Additionally, the contracts governing these Chinese loans are structured so strategically that defaulting on them leads to the forfeiture of crucial national assets. Sri Lanka's Hambantota Port vividly illustrates this: after falling into a debt-default spiral, Sri Lanka was forced to lease 70% of the port to China for 99 years.Many African nations now back China’s proposals at the United Nations simply because they are buried under Chinese debt. Laos’ entire power sector is under Chinese control. Pakistan’s China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is being repurposed as part of China’s military ambitions. These countries have lost not just economic control, but their international standing, diplomatic independence, and the strength to uphold national interests. Bangladesh, too, is not outside the sphere of this Chinese strategy. Mega projects like the Padma Bridge, Karnaphuli Tunnel, and Ghumdhum Railway show strong Chinese involvement in both financing and implementation. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), led by China, has been providing large loans for Bangladesh’s development projects. Since Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Dhaka in 2016, China had pledged 24 billion dollar in loans to various Bangladeshi projects. Yet by 2025, the Bangladesh government has canceled Chinese funding in five projects, signaling a growing resistance to Chinese economic influence. Still, the nation’s dependency on Chinese financing and the looming threat of falling into the debt trap, remains unresolved. For a long time, the international community overlooked the consequences of China’s debt strategy. But now, alarm bells are ringing across the globe. Institutions like the IMF, G7, and World Bank have been forced to restructure many countries' debts, largely due to China’s inflexible stance. China, meanwhile, continues to brand its loans as “debt compassion,” trying to mask its aggressive tactics under the pretense of humanitarian development. But in truth, this is a calculated form of economic control intended to advance China’s geopolitical goals. China’s debt diplomacy has grown beyond mere financial figures, it is a political weapon in disguise. This debt pushes countries into economic dependency and ultimately forces political compliance. Initially, they give up strategic infrastructure; later, they surrender the freedom to make their own policies. Bangladesh, too, is now beginning to feel the shadow of this strategy. Unless we take precautionary measures now, we may find ourselves in the same position as Sri Lanka, Pakistan, or many African countries which compelled to surrender to Chinese control. That would be deeply dishonorable for a country like Bangladesh. It would be a betrayal of our sovereignty and the blood of the 3 million martyrs of our Liberation War. We must remember that economic subjugation is not just a matter of statistics. It is a deep wound to a nation’s self-respect, one that first erodes independence in policymaking, then in the economy, and finally in national identity itself. In today’s world, the way China is expanding its influence, money is the weapon, friendship is the trap, and development is the pathway to control. Better to have less development than to lose sovereignty, self-determination, and freedom. No truth can stand above a nation’s independence and sovereignty.