Today, nearly all the low-income HIPC countries are again at risk of debt distress, with debt vulnerabilities that have been greatly exacerbated by the economic shock of the COVID pandemic. But on the creditor side, the picture has changed dramatically. The United States government today is one of the smallest creditors to low-income countries, with just $370 million in outstanding claims. China, on the other hand, with over $31 billion in outstanding claims to the HIPC countries, is a bigger creditor than all other government creditors combined. […]