WHITE MAN’S BURDEN: How Venezuela Became China’s Money Pit. “Beijing is reportedly throwing good money after bad to the Latin American producer, but it has its reasons.”

The CSIS tallies $55 billion in energy-related loans alone that it has extended. Unable to come up with hard currency to service them, Venezuela has been paying in discounted barrels of oil but struggled even to do that after prices collapsed in 2014. China offered a “grace period” on some loans.

At one point when prices were higher and its oil industry less decrepit, Venezuela was sending China 600,000 barrels a day, according to Russ Dallen, the chief executive of Caracas Capital Markets, who has done extensive work untangling Venezuela’s opaque finances. He estimated that has brought the balance down to about $20 to $23 billion, plus another $3 billion to $4 billion owed to Russian oil company Rosneft.

The cash drain from these enormous debts may have exacerbated the decline in output, and there is scant chance that China’s latest infusion will do much to arrest the fall. Hence the market’s shrug at the news. But why does cash keep flowing in?

Part of it is the potential equity value of that bad debt.

They’ll pick the bones of Venezuela’s corpse, then expect us to take care of the humanitarian cleanup.