China - United States: China comfortably settled in the Caribbean

China can comfortably set up shop less than 100 kilometers from the U.S. coast in the Caribbean Sea by relying on the seven Caribbean states that have broken off diplomatic relations with Taiwan; states to which it is providing assistance while also supporting Cuba, where it has substituted itself for Russia to ensure the survival of the regime. The United States stands by and does nothing. Absurd!

On May 11, 2022, at the initiative of Beijing, a teleconference brought together the Caribbean countries that have broken off diplomatic relations with Taiwan. It focused on the assistance that Beijing is giving them in their fight against Covid-19. The participants were unanimous in denouncing the practices of politicization, stigmatization and labeling under the pretext of the pandemic, and expressed their support for the leading role of the WHO in the global response1 .

This meeting gave substance to the Chinese commitments renewed on April 29, 2022 by Foreign Minister Wang Yi. A virtual meeting co-chaired by the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica and attended by the Foreign Ministers of Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Grenada, Jamaica, the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados.
 
An opportunity for China to affirm that it would continue its economic and technological assistance to Caribbean countries without any political conditions, that it would focus on supporting key projects that benefit the population and that it was promoting practical technologies such as Juncao (a tall grass, originating from Chinese research laboratories, that can withstand difficult environments, high unit yield and high protein content). It was an opportunity to recall that it was donating medical and anti-pandemic supplies and that it would be contributing to a China-Caribbean fund for disaster prevention and mitigation2 .

Beijing is thus present in the Caribbean. Between 2005 and 2020, it has committed more than eight billion dollars to programs related to transportation, mining and agriculture. Jamaica has received $2.68 billion; Trinidad and Tobago $1.94 billion; Antigua and Barbuda $1 billion3 . According to Harvard professor Joseph Nye, the Bahamas received special attention with preferential loans for the construction of a $3 billion mega-port in Freeport. China State Engineering Corporation purchased the British Hilton Colonial in a $250 million program. China EXIM Bank lent $3 billion for the construction of the Baha Mar resort and provided over $54 million in loans for the construction of a four-lane highway. Another $40 million was provided for the construction of a port off the Bahamian island of Abacono and $30 million for the construction of a national stadium4 .
 
In absolute terms over 12 years, these contributions remain modest, but they are significant when compared to the very small economies of these target countries. However, they are sufficient for China to take the place left vacant by the United Kingdom in these islands.
 
But there is more. Next door, Cuba, "a good brother, a good comrade, a great friend," is a Chinese anchor near the United States. It is impossible to estimate the level of Beijing's commitment, but it is known that its investments are in the billions of dollars. China is now Cuba's first commercial partner and its first source of technology. With the Chinese oil company Great Wall Drilling, Cuba is exploiting deposits buried at great depths in the northwest of Cuba (from five to twenty million barrels, depending on estimates). This undertaking was hailed by the Global Times newspaper, which enthusiastically reported that on May 5, 2022, the youngest members of the Chinese team of 122 engineers and technicians assigned to the project took part in the raising of the colors to mark the day of youth. It should be added that since 2018, Havana is a major terminal of the Silk Road and in this framework, it joined on November 2, 2021 the. Global Energy Partnership that focuses on financing and building energy infrastructure among its members5 . It is possible to conclude: to ensure the survival of the communist regime, China has substituted for the ruined Russia.
 
This is only a new breakthrough in the Latin American and Caribbean region that the United States has carelessly abandoned. Asia 21 had already alerted us at the beginning of the year: China is taking over LAC without firing a shot6 . This is absurd. While the United States commits itself thousands of kilometers away in the name of democracy and denounces a totalitarian China at every opportunity, without the slightest reaction, it allows this same China to settle comfortably in the Caribbean Sea, less than 100 kilometers from the United States.

(1) China and Caribbean Countries Having Diplomatic Relations with it Held a Special Vice Foreign Ministers' Meeting on COVID, China embassy, 14/05/2022
(2) China-Caribbean Foreign ministers meet to strengthen, deepen, Eye Witness News, 04/05/2022
(3) China Regional Snapshot: The Caribbean, Republican Foreign Affairs Committee, 04/05/2022
(4) An In-Depth look at China's Footprint in the Bahamas, American Security Council Foundation, 04/30/2021  
(5) Cuba Joins Belt And Road Initiative Energy Partnership, Slkroadbriefing, 02/11/2022
(6) See Asie21 n° 157/2022-01 Maurice Rossin - One hand washes the other, Un prêté pour un rendu

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