Every time I read "debt trap" and it isn't followed or preceded by "IMF" I get a tiny bit more cynical.

Even a cursory glance at US monetary policy reveals most about what you need to know about so called "debt traps".

Folks in the US write best sellers about it every few years (economic hit man, smedley butler, etc) but it never sticks.

Right, China obviously isn't doing this out of sheer altruism. My key point is that there is no indication that anything nefarious is happening here.

This is what Trump and Pompeo said. That they want a military base. But it's wrong. It's not effective as a naval base. The harbor entrance is narrow, only wide enough for one ship to pass through at a time. To house naval ships there would be foolish. It would be easy for enemy to block the entrance off and then bomb. And in the case where ships need to scramble somewhere, they can only do so very slowly.