By Elishya Perera
KINGSTON, Jamaica (CWBN)_ China has dispatched medical equipment to the Caribbean to combat the Coronavirus, including masks, test kits and ventilators, and has also donated security equipment throughout the region.
Meanwhile, it is also reported that the nation has offered loans and expertise for the construction of highways in Jamaica.
The initiatives are seen as a part of a quiet but assertive push by China to expand its influence in the region, and to forge economic ties and diplomatic relationships around the world, through the building of major infrastructure projects under the Belt and Road Initiative.
Sri Lanka, for instance, borrowed billions of dollars from China for infrastructure from 2005 to 2015, and in 2017, the country was forced to lease its major port to a Chinese firm for 99 years, as the government was unable to service a $1.4 billion loan provided by Beijing.
Even though the Caribbean markets are generally small, according to analysts, the region has a significant security value in a military conflict, owing to its proximity to the United States.
On the other hand, China’s growing interest come as necessary support for Caribbean nations, which have serious infrastructure needs, but lack access to financing for development as middle-income nation.
While low-interest loans by the Chinese government totaling more than $6 billion have financed major infrastructure projects and other initiatives throughout the Caribbean, Jamaica is reported to have received more financial assistance from Beijing than any other nation in the region.
According to the Inter-American Dialogue, which closely tracks Chinese government financing in the region, over the past 15 years, Beijing has lent Jamaica more than $2 billion for building roads, bridges, a convention center and housing, while the Planning Institute of Jamaica reports that China has also provided grants which have financed a children’s hospital, schools and an office building for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, among other projects.
In the recent past, the United States has stepped up warnings to allies about the risks of doing business with Beijing.
During a visit to Jamaica in January, Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, noted that while it is “tempting to accept easy money from places like China… what good is it if it feeds corruption and undermines your rule of law?” he observed.
Responding to Pompeo’s remarks, the Chinese Embassy in Kingston said that Beijing has deepened its relationship with Caribbean states “on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit”, and accused the United States of “tarnishing China’s reputation, starting fires and fanning the flames and sowing discords”.
However, according to Pepe Zhang, an associate director at the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center, Caribbean nations want to be able to work with both the United Nations and China, and do not want to be forced to pick sides.
Edited By Chathushka Perera
