Yes it's called Debt Trapping and it's covered extensively in the real MSM: NYT articles after the front page, WSJ, the economist, FT, Foreign Policy, etc.
Just POPULAR MSM is not reporting it. Anything said about the Chinese is rayciss.
The Chinese are involved in any weak small nation, they've corralled Pakistan which is not weak or small, but essential to distract China's enemy, India.
They've Debt Trapped both Uruguay and Venezuela. The Chinese state-owned oil company had an exclusive deal to buy sulphurous Venezuelan oil and sell it to the Dutch on Curacao and Aruba. With processed Oil Sands oil, US shale, and plenty of new light-sweet crude drilling in the ME, nobody wanted Venezuela's shitty sulphury oil, but they still had to sell a certain amount to China, who controlled a guaranteed profit margin. The dutch of course paid way, way, way below on Venezuelan crude, which means the Venezuelans sold crude below cost to China who then made guaranteed profits. For years.
The Uruguay trap was a hydro-electric plant which now has to be paid back via raised taxes on the Uruguayans.
Sri Lanka had to hand over an entire port that the Chinese built, but Sri Lanka almost completely paid for. It wasn't two payments late, the Chinese are far more fair than your Mortgage Lender. But 5 or 6 missed payments, boom, entire port went to the Chinamen.