HOW CHINA IS WOOING THE CARIBBEAN

IN its effort to woo the Caribbean, China has expanded its trade from around US $1 billion in 2002 to almost US $9 billion.

China is also undertaking major infrastructural projects in the Caribbean, trying to lure the four Caricom countries that are diplomatically linked to Taiwan, and is engaging in cultural exchanges.

It is all part of Beijing’s diplomatic outreach as it seeks to develop influence in a region that is close to south-eastern United States, next to South America, and not far from the Panama Canal.

If China develops the presence it is seeking, it could emerge in a few years in a direct power struggle with the United States and Russia.

After ignoring the Caribbean for a few years, the US administration is strengthening economic and diplomatic ties, with its ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago Candace Bond seen as a major agent of that outreach.

Russia is tightening its cosy relations with Venezuela, and the visit of Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was one such initiative.

“We fully support our Venezuelan friends,” Lavrov during his visit last week.

Hundreds of agreements relating to financial, energy, agriculture and other sectors were reviewed.

Russia is backing Venezuela’s attempt for the removal of US economic sanctions against the South American country.

For its part, China is utilising its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to press its weight with the Caribbean, even as the western world warns about “dept-trap diplomacy.’

Chinese firms, including China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), are pushing for Caribbean projects in ports, bridges, highways, airports, and other forms of infrastructure.

China Development Bank and China Export-Import Bank are providing loans.

Other Chinese firms are already at work in Caribbean territories.

A single project worth US $2.1 billion is being funded in Jamaica, while there is financial support for a US $773 venture in Suriname.

Senior Chinese figures are also engaging personally with leaders of the Caribbean and Latin America, seeking to dismantle the US soft power and longstanding sway.  

It is clear that China’s bosses understand that the struggling economies of the Caribbean cannot afford the modern infrastructure and other facilities that their respective nationals are demanding.

Financing its clout is not onerous for China, the world’s second-largest economy.

In seeking to reassert the United States’ authority in the region, its leaders and diplomats may have to seriously consider providing the type of economic aid that is coming from Beijing.

There have been calls from experts for Washington to offer greater focused support, including public-private sector relationships.

Whatever happens, it is clear that China has dug in its heels in a new battleground area and that a three-way contest lies ahead for pre-eminence in the Caribbean Sea.