{"id":139456,"date":"2021-10-12T09:49:51","date_gmt":"2021-10-12T13:49:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=139456"},"modified":"2021-10-12T09:49:51","modified_gmt":"2021-10-12T13:49:51","slug":"how-china-has-poured-billions-into-the-caribbean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/how-china-has-poured-billions-into-the-caribbean\/","title":{"rendered":"How China has poured billions into the Caribbean"},"content":{"rendered":"
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China has poured billions of dollars of investment into the Caribbean while signing tax and trade deals in an attempt to wrest the region out of the West\u2019s sphere of influence and bring it under the sway of Beijing.<\/p>

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The Chinese government has invested at least $7billion in six Caribbean nations since 2005, records show \u2013 building roads, ports and the five-star Baha Mar casino and resort in the Bahamas \u2013 though the true figure is thought to run well into the tens of billions.<\/p>\n

While some of the money arrives as part of trade and investment deals, much of it is offered as \u2018soft loans\u2019 for infrastructure projects that are harder to track and typically come with requirements to use Chinese contractors for the work. The loans also provide long-term leverage for Beijing over the cash-strapped island nations.<\/p>

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MailOnline investigated China\u2019s growing influence in the region after Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the UK\u2019s foreign affairs committee, accused Beijing of \u2018playing a large role\u2019 in Barbados\u2019s recent calls to drop the Queen as the Head of State.<\/p>

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In addition to the loans and investments, eight countries in the Caribbean have signed on to Beijing\u2019s Belt and Road initiative, including Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, with agreements in place to deepen trade ties along with building bridges and airports, and improving energy and telecommunications networks.<\/p>\n

Mr Tugendhat told the Times: \u2018China has been using infrastructure investment and debt diplomacy as a means of control for a while and it\u2019s coming closer to home for us.<\/p>

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\u2018British partners have long faced challenges from rivals seeking to undermine our alliance.<\/p>\n

\u2018Today we\u2019re seeing it in the Caribbean. Some islands seem to be close to swapping a symbolic Queen in Windsor for a real and demanding emperor in Beijing.\u2019<\/p>

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