Debt-trap diplomacy is a theory to describe a powerful lending country or institution seeking to saddle a borrowing nation with enormous debt so as to increase its leverage over it. The term 'debt-trap diplomacy' was introduced by Indian academic Brahma Chellaney in early 2017 and has been widely used in recent years to allege China's lending policies, though the factuality of the allegations against China has been criticized by multiple academic institutions including Rhodium Group, Chatham House and Princeton University, which have stated that the narrative of debt-trap diplomacy in the context of Chinese investments is false.