This is the part of “belt and road” where they beat you with the belt.
I wonder what "stepping in to help" is supposed to mean in this context.
Also, "found paying back that debt is consuming an ever-greater amount of the tax revenue needed to keep schools open, provide electricity and pay for food and fuel". No shit, servicing debts requires money, who could have thought. If only everyone could just print more money like the US does to service it's loans (oh wait, it seems like it no longer can do that!)
The problem for China is that countries won't be cooperating willingly. The moment shooting war starts between China and US, the countries will nationalize anything sold to China, default on the loans, and call the US asking them to take over the bases.
One problem China has is that they think the US is forcing other countries to be allies and enforce their hegemony. This leads them to think that they need to act same way and coerce other countries into their sphere. US is more subtle, using "soft power", mutual interest, and limited coercion. The US also doesn't care about most of the world beyond companies having access.