Concerns over Rowley’s close China ties… WHY TOP US MILITARY MAN CAME TO T&T

A SENIOR United States military official has held discussions with Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley in light of fears of Trinidad and Tobago’s growing ties with China. 

Admiral Craig Faller, Commander of the US Second Command (SOUTHCOM), sought to boost relations amid increasing concerns over China’s soft diplomacy, which includes loans and other forms of economic assistance. 

There are also anxieties over developing bonds the Caribbean and Latin America are reportedly developing with Russia and other predatory countries. 

Trinidad and Tobago is seen as strategically important to the United States because of its geographic location close to Venezuela and the rest of South America. 

The Embassy of the United States in Port of Spain said Faller’s visit was to “discuss continued security cooperation and the strong partnership between the United States and Trinidad and Tobago.” 

China has been offering low-interest loans and has displayed attraction toward several public projects in Trinidad and Tobago. 

The US is concerned that T&T would be enticed into China’s diplomatic orbit, which could serve to endanger America’s security and economic interests in the Caribbean and Latin America. 

Faller recently told the US Senate Armed Services Committee that SOUTHCOM is “working with our partners to secure our hemisphere.” 

He stated that “external state actors” like China are “looking to exploit the conditions posed by … threats” such as “illicit drugs…institutional stability and corruption in the region…” 

He said a threat to Caribbean and Latin America “is a threat to the United States.” 

US President Joe Biden expressed similar sentiments while speaking at another forum. 

Faller stated: “We are losing positional advantage in this hemisphere and immediate action is needed to reverse this trend.” 

He said that more than 40 ports are being constructed in the Caribbean and Latin America and that “significant loans are being used as political leverage” by China. 

The Rowley Government has announced plans to privatise of the port of Port of Spain. 

The military boss also raised alarm over “illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing,” which, he said, is “weakening democratic institutions and leveraging the future of this hemisphere.” 

Faller told the Committee: “We have seen many of these tactics in Asia and Africa over the last few decades and we are well aware of all the results. 

“We must act now to avoid those same results in our own hemisphere.” 

He said SOUTHCOM’s “primary mission” is to “keep our neighbourhood safe…” 

He added that China is aiming to enhance medical exchange programmes, exploiting the pandemic to advance its initiative in trade and infrastructure. 

The military leader said Beijing is using Covid-19 as a pretext to donate telecommunications technology that integrates with 5G networks. 

Russia, he stated, is “seizing the pandemic as an opportunity to increase its influence in countries where it previously had limited access.” 

Faller listed a number of projects which SOUTHCOM has executed in several hemispheric countries, especially humanitarian Covid-19 assistance. 

He stressed that China is “rapidly advancing toward their goal of economic dominance in the region within the next 10 years.” 

He voiced concern about the state of affairs in Venezuela, stating that it is “the primary foothold and access point in the region” for external state actors and “gives refuge to regional terrorist groups.” 

He pointed to the number of refugees who have fled that country. 

In a statement, the US Embassy said Faller’s visit would pave the way for “stronger cooperative ties” between SOUTHCOM and T&T’s Defence Force. 

Diplomatic sources stated that the US would continue dialogue with the Rowley Government with a view to providing strategic support and to moving T&T away from China’s economic reach. 

“This was not a courtesy call,” one source said with reference to Faller’s visit to Port of Spain. “It was serious business.” 

This was the military leader’s second visit to T&T. 

It is expected that he would return to the country in the near future for continued discussions. 

Over the past few months, he has also been holding top-level discussions in several other Caribbean and Latin American countries. 

On March 16, Chinese President Xi Jinping telephoned Rowley, and both countries have been seeking to bolster bilateral relations. 

Trade has expanded between both countries and there have been exchanges in culture, education, tourism, sports and other fields.  

In March 2018, T&T became the first Caribbean country to sign onto China’s lucrative Belt and Road Initiative. 
This took place while Rowley was paying an official visit to China. 

Chinese officials have said that future cooperation would include business investments in T&T. 

Indications are Trinidad and Tobago and the rest of the region are likely to become a fierce economic and diplomatic battleground over the next few years between competing international interests.