HOW – AND WHY – CHINA WILL GET POS PORT !

CHINA has taken over more than 80 major and 2,000 minor ports around the world over the past five years. 

The acquisition of ports came out of the infrastructure-improvement Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), through which China is aggressively extending its world influence. 

The port component is called Maritime Silk Road (MSR). 

Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley signed the BRI deal on March 14, 2018, during an official visit to Beijing. 

Trinidad and Tobago became the first country in the region to latch onto that agreement; the contents and commitments were never made known. 

Since then, 18 countries in the Caribbean and Latin America have joined the BRI. 

Why is China gobbling up ports everywhere? 

An official United States document said it is about “economic stagecraft,” which is “now a threat to maritime security.” 

The US said the port investments are aimed at achieving three key objectives – commercial, political and military footholds in specific strategic locations around the world. 

In plain terms, the US stated: “With a network of ports in strategic locations, China has become a serious threat to US maritime superiority.” 

Reports are that China is converting civil ports into military infrastructure. 

According to the US, the port investments allow China to “gain political leverage and expand political influence around the world.” 

China has been targeting the Caribbean and Latin America. 

President Xi Jinping has visited the region more than six times over the past few years, during which he signed more than 150 contracts worth a total of more than US $70 billion. 

In 2014, President Xi visited Trinidad and Tobago during a 10-day swing through this part of the world, in which he held meetings with leaders of more than 20 countries. 

In recent years, China has provided preferential loans to T&T, and made extensive investments in various aspects of the local economy. 

T&T is strategically important to China, because of its influence in Caricom and geographic location near to the unstable Venezuela and the rest of South America. 

Against that setting, Finance Minister Colm Imbert announced in his 2020-2021 budget that the operations of the Port Authority would be privatised. 

Imbert said that “immediate steps” would be taken “to introduce a private sector operator…” 

Port Authority manages the ports of Port of Spain and Scarborough and subsidiaries, including the inter-island ferry service. 

As the privatisation deadline gets closer, the Government has begun a public relations exercise of justifying the measure. 

A daily newspaper reported that the Port Authority has lost $337.5 million over the past five years. 

T&T had never before been informed of the financial performance of the ports or of measures to improve their functioning. 

The Port Authority is now inviting expressions of interest for the forthcoming privatisation. 

The world-respected Economist Intelligence Unit has reported that China recognises the “strategic advantages of port investments … as they bring with them tighter control of key sea lanes and energy supply routes.” 

The Chinese shipper COSCO is expected to add T&T and other Caribbean and Latin American ports to its routes. 

China Harbour Engineering Company, the State enterprise that handles port investments, already has a presence in T&T, with the US $500 million La Brea Drydock Facility. 

As CounterPunchTT has revealed in other articles, China has deepened its economic with T&T, through several projects undertaken by Shanghai Construction Group. 

CounterPunchTT has also disclosed the interests that telecommunications giant Huawei has in T&T and other countries. 

Huawei has been banned in the United States and several other countries, over widespread allegations of espionage. 

In T&T, Huawei has partnered with TSTT and has access to vital communications hardware. 

There is Confucius Institute at the University of the West Indies, gifts of motorbikes to the police service, a stake in Atlantic LNG and other projects. 

China reportedly has eyes on Petrotrin, especially for certain associated plants at Ponte-a-Pierre. 

Beijing Construction and Engineering Group is likely to become involved in the Phoenix Park Industrial Estate. 

China’s Import-Export Bank is the go-to financing facility for industrial projects in T&T. 

Senior US officials are concerned that Chinese investments in ports in T&T and nearby countries could challenge America’s security interests. 

As for the manner in which China would bid for the T&T ports, there is an existing blueprint that includes providing access to key trade routes, financing arrangements, expansion of the facility and improvement of existing assets. 

The Rowley Government may easily find those terms and conditions to be superior to those of other bidders. 

But the US would continue to keep its eyes on the involvement of China, which it sees as a significant maritime threat.