China’s
projection of influence in some previously unfamiliar regions of the
world continues to grow, that much is clear. When it comes to Latin
America and the Caribbean, Beijing has strengthened its ties,
particularly by means of comprehensive trade relations, with countries
like Argentina, Brazil, Peru, and Venezuela. This has been done not only
to secure non-traditional trading partners and commodity sources like
oil and soybeans, but also to corner established markets for its many
traditional exports. China’s relationship with the Caribbean is complex,
as this region is particularly important to Beijing’s foreign policy
goals regarding Taiwan, which has some of its greatest supporters
there. Several Caribbean states currently recognize Taiwan as an
independent republic, instead of maintaining the “one-China” position
that has been endorsed by the mainland government.
Investment and Development
Unsurprisingly, China has been able to
establish strong economic ties abroad, particularly in the developing
world, by means of a series of investment deals. These include some
major initiatives in the Caribbean in recent years.
Caribbean Map - World Atlas
In September 2011, Chinese Vice Premier
Hui Liangyu visited Jamaica to meet with Governor-General Patrick Allen
and Prime Minister Bruce Golding. While there, Hui put forward a
five-point proposal for intensifying bilateral relations. The goals
outlined by both sides included: promoting high-level exchanges to
deepen mutual political trust, strengthening economic and trade
cooperation, improving agricultural cooperation, expanding
people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and promoting coordination in
international affairs.[1] Also during the visit, Hui signed
two separate agreements for grants valued jointly at RMB 21 million (USD
3.2 million), as well as a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on
agricultural cooperation.[2] In November 2011, the Jamaican
government approved a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) with the
Chinese island of Macao. According to a high-ranking Jamaican official,
Arthur Williams, the agreement will facilitate the effective exchange
of tax information between Jamaican tax authorities and their
counterparts in Macao.[3]
Regarding ALBA member Dominica, Prime
Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, publicly praised his country’s relationship
with Beijing in October 2011. Skerrit commented that “China has
demonstrated to all of us its sincerity and willingness to assist us in
time of need [sic] and we will thank them profusely for that kind of
assistance.”[4] This statement was in reference to Chinese
investments in resettlement projects to aid the citizens of Dominica
that were affected by floods on its west coast that year. Other Chinese
projects on the island include the construction of the Dominica State
College, the State House, and a housing program, under a USD 14 million
loan agreement.
In Guyana, President Bharrat Jagdeo told
the Caribbean Community back in September 2011 that the entire bloc
should make efforts to deepen their relations with China. The head of
state declared during the two-day China-Caribbean Economic and Trade
Cooperation Forum that “in the last 10 years, China’s exports have
consistently accounted for more than 70 per cent of Dominica’s total
trade. In 2008, 93 per cent of Caribbean-China trade consisted of
Beijing’s exports to the region. The region itself exported
significantly (over US$60 million in goods) to China in that year.”[5] China
has exhibited a growing demand for the region’s raw materials,
including gas and asphalt from Trinidad and Tobago, and timber, bauxite,
and other minerals from Guyana. In December 2011, Florida International
University’s Applied Research Center published a Findings Report
entitled “Guyanese Strategic Culture: Leaders Leveraging Landscapes” by
renowned Caribbean expert Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith, which highlighted how
Beijing has a great interest in Guyana’s uranium reserves (p. 9). In
2011, Georgetown and Beijing signed a framework agreement for the Amaila
Falls Hydropower project.[6]
During the aforementioned
China-Caribbean forum last September, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan
reportedly pledged up to USD 1 billion in preferential loans to support
the local economic development of Caribbean countries.[7] In
addition, Vice Premier Wang also met with Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime
Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, and stated that “China encourages its
businesses to invest in Trinidad and Tobago with the win-win objectives
of mutual benefit,” and an inter-governmental agreement between the two
governments that was signed at the end of their meeting.[8]
Another country that has benefited from
Chinese investment is Antigua and Barbuda. In January 2011, the
Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) reported that Beijing will provide USD
45 million to build a new terminal at the C.V. Bird International
Airport, which will take three years to complete. A delegation of the
Chinese government was sent to the Caribbean state to sign an agreement
that finalized this investment deal. Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer used
the visit “to re-state his country’s ‘determination to remain a true
friend of the People’s Republic of China.’”[9] One member of
the Chinese delegation that visited Antigua was State Councilor Liu
Yandong, who remarked that “since the establishment of diplomatic
relations between China and Antigua and Barbuda on Jan. 1, 1983, the two
countries’ cooperation [has] developed in a sustainable and stable
way.”[10] In November 2011, a 20-member delegation from
China’s National People’s Congress visited the island, which again
included “officials from the country’s Standing Committee and a member
of the NPC’s Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee.”[11]
The delegation met with Prime Minister Spencer and visited local sites
like Nelson’s Dockyard, and signed cooperation agreements.
- Source: Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
Finally, in a January finding by the
Associated Press’ Jeff Todd, he explains how China’s state-owned
Export-Import Bank has agreed to finance a new port and bridge in the
Bahamas’ northern island of Abaco.[12] Chinese financial aid
for both projects will consist of a USD 41 million loan, of which USD 33
million will be used for a thirty-five acre port, while the rest will
be used to build the Little Abaco Bridge, which “will allow the
government to remove the causeway connecting Great and Little Abaco as
well as restore natural flow to the mangrove forest and other natural
habitat in the area,” according to Environment Minister Earl Deveaux.
Diplomatic Support and Cooperation
Aside from developing an economic
presence, China also has shown its diplomatic support, as well as
sympathy, for Latin American and Caribbean initiatives, particularly
those that are trying to detach regional nations from Washington’s
diplomatic sphere of influence. For example, in December 2011, Chinese
President Hu Jintao congratulated Presidents Hugo Chávez of Venezuela
and Sebastián Piñera of Chile on the formation of the Community of Latin
American and Caribbean States (CELAC). The Chinese state news agency,
Xinhua, reported that “Hu said that the establishment of CELAC
represents a major milestone in regional integration and that China
appreciates the positive role of Latin American and Caribbean countries
in international and regional affairs.”[13] As He Li explains in a 2005 article entitled “Rivalry between Taiwan and the PRC in Latin America” [14] Beijing
also “wants to use the Third World to construct a multi-polar world
based on China’s terms. Since the end of the cold war, Beijing wishes to
see changes in the global balance of power, and to do so requires a
network of allies from the Third World, including those from Latin
America and the Caribbean.”
Beijing has also improved relations with
a number of Caribbean nations outside the realm of trade and
investment. In October 2011, China pledged military assistance worth USD
1.1 million to the Jamaican Defence Force (JDF). JDF Chief of Defence
Staff, Major General Antony Anderson stated that the “allotment that has
been apportioned, and discussions over the next few months with members
of the Chinese government, and the People’s Liberation Army, will
determine how best it will be spent.”[15]
As part of a series of regional
diplomatic initiatives last November, Prime Minister of Guyana Samuel
Hinds received the “Medal of China –Latin America Friendship.” The award
was bestowed by a delegation of the Chinese Peoples’ Association for
Friendship with Peoples from Foreign Countries (CPAFPFFC) that was
visiting the area at the time. Additionally, Premier Wen Jiabao had the
patience to describe Barbados as a “good friend” and an “important
partner” to China, which is logical since the country supports the “one
China” policy. This statement took place during a visit of Barbadian
Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, who called Beijing a “reliable partner.”[16] These
non-earth-shaking events are understandable when one is aware of the
tentacles of Beijing’s “One China” policy and its search for reliable
partners throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.
Lastly, it is important to note that
China has sent security personnel to Haiti as part of its participation
in the controversial United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti
(MINUSTAH). Groups like the Haitian Action website have been critical of
the contingent that has been serving in the UN mission since 2004,
stating that
“They were accused of involvement along with Brazilian UN forces in a week-long siege of the community of Bel Air in June 2005. After that operation, the Haitian police had burned down more than twelve homes in the area and more than 30 people were reportedly gunned down in the panic that ensued. The Chinese were also accused by members of Aristide’s Lavalas movement of taking video and photographs during peaceful demonstrations that were later used to persecute them for their political stance.”[17]
According to MINUSTAH’s website, four
Chinese nationals working for the UN police were tragically killed
during the January 12, 2010, earthquake.[18]
Then again, there have been several
diplomatic incidents between China and Caribbean states, particularly in
Haiti. Writing for the Brown Journal of World Affairs in a 2006
article, University of Miami professor June Dreyer explained that: “in
1996, Beijing, angry because the vice president of Taiwan had been
invited to Rene Preval’s presidential inauguration, threatened to use
its veto in the United Nations Security Council to end a UN peacekeeping
operation in Haiti.”[19]
Beijing vs. Taipei
Certainly a critical aspect regarding
the extent of Chinese interests in the Caribbean, as previously has been
reflected upon, is Beijing’s interest for Caribbean islands to adopt
mainland China’s negative stance on Taiwan. In the past few years, China
has taken an aggressive approach in attempting to dissuade Taipei’s
ability to invest in this region. Since eleven out of twenty-three of
Taiwan’s surviving diplomatic relationships can be found within the
Greater Caribbean,[20] it is of distinct importance for China
to ensure that it maintains robust ties with Latin American and
Caribbean countries for political reasons, while also managing to limit
Taipei’s involvement in the region. Without including the Central
American states, the Caribbean nations that currently recognize Taiwan
are the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia,
as well as Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Currently, the longstanding diplomatic
competition between the two Chinas seems to be cooling down, due to
incumbent Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou being re-elected.[21] It
seems clear that President Ma wants to promote a peaceful path towards
cross-strait relations development, and hence the subtle tug-of-war over
diplomatic recognition seems, at least for the time being, to be coming
to an end.
Taiwan’s Victories and Losses
The diplomatic battle described as
“Money Diplomacy” being Beijing and Taipei usually encapsulates
investment and lending, development aid, technical assistance, and
academic cooperation. Taipei sees such initiatives as paramount and aims
to maintain it via investment and economic aid initiatives, though
there has been concern in the past that Santo Domingo may terminate its
recognition of Taiwan. In October 2010, the Bank of China and China’s
Foreign Trade Bank stated they would extend USD 462 million in financing
for an exclusive tourism complex in Punta Perla in the eastern part of
the Dominican Republic. In response, James Chang, a spokesman for the
Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that “our embassy will
closely monitor the situation. However, the Republic of China does not
oppose trade relations between the private sectors of our allies and
those in China.”[22] Another recent discussion between
Taiwan and one of its Caribbean allies is Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines. In mid-February, Ambassador Camillo Gonsalves, St Vincent
and the Grenadines’ Permanent Representative to the United Nations,
met with Taiwanese officials over the construction of the Caribbean
country’s international airport and other issues. The airport is
scheduled for completion in 2013 and is largely dependent on foreign
investment; Taiwan signed a MoU in 2006 for a $15 million grant and a
$10 million soft loan.[23]
Taiwan lost an ally last decade when the
Prime Minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit, decided to sever
relations with Taiwan in favor of China last decade. Writing for NACLA’s
Report on the Americas, Professor Diana Thorburn, a lecturer at the
University of the West Indies, explained that the Taiwan-China issue had
become an election issue in 2005. Thorburn explains that the issue
“overshadowed” the general elections and that “Taiwanese flags adorned
the homes of opposition supporters.”[24] A March 2004 BBC
report explained that, at the time, “China had agreed to give Dominica
more than $100 million in aid over the next five years. Taiwan’s Foreign
Minister, Eugene Chien, condemned what he called China’s dollar
diplomacy in so aggressively wooing away Dominica. He said it was a huge
sum for a country with just 70,000 people.”[25]
In addition, Taiwan is currently at odds
with Grenada as the Caribbean government seems to be currently unable
to pay a loan owed by St Georges after the closure of Maurice Bishop
International Airport.[26] Grenada recognized Taiwan until
2005, when the Caribbean state had a crippling debt and took Beijing’s
financial aid to switch diplomatic recognition. A March 5 report by Ezra
Fieser in the Christian Science Monitor explains that “seven years
later, playing up to China’s game of dollar diplomacy has come back to
haunt Grenada. Taiwan is now calling in loans it made when the countries
were diplomatic allies.”[27]
At least, Taiwan can rest assured that
its relations with Saint Lucia remain in good standing. In January of
this year, there were rumors that Castries would sever relations with
Taipei after a new government came to power last November. A CaribDirect
report explains that “Kenny Anthony, the island nation’s new prime
minister, had previously accused Taiwan’s Ambassador Tom Chou of
influencing St. Lucia’s election by supporting the then-ruling United
Workers Party (UWP) and added he would review the diplomatic relations
with Taiwan after taking power.”[28] However, the new Prime
Minister, member of the Labour Party, reverted the island’s policy after
coming to power and has sustained relations with Taipei. Saint Lucia is
one of those countries which has switched its recognition back to
Taipei from Beijing in the past. It first established relations with
Taiwan in 1984, switched to recognizing China in 1997 and then switched
back to Taiwan in 2007.
In order to foster more trade, between
Taiwan and the Caribbean, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council
(TAITRA) sent a trade mission to Saint Lucia and Puerto Rico last
October to carry out meetings and exhibitions. In a press release at the
time, TAITRA explained that the mission would “[bring] the latest
products as well as new opportunities for business and trade. The
delegation comprises 6 dynamic enterprises representing various
industries, including industrial machinery, electronics, hardware, toys,
and foods.”[29]
Finally, Taiwan has been very active in
the reconstruction efforts in Haiti after the devastating January 2010
earthquake that struck the Caribbean state. In February 2012, Food for
the Poor, the largest charitable organization in the United Sates,
publicly praised Taipei’s post-disaster efforts, going as far as
inviting Ray Mou, director-general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural
Office in Miami, to take part in a charity dinner that would raise funds
to build villages in Haiti.[30]
Chinese Migration: A Topic Not Often Discussed
There is an issue regarding Chinese
presence in the Caribbean that is relatively under-studied, and that is
Chinese migration to these island states. Large segments of the Chinese
population have moved, lived, and flourished throughout the world, and
the Caribbean is no exception. Unfortunately, not much has been written
about Chinese migration to the Caribbean; hence more in-depth field
research is needed in order to begin building a much more complete
picture of the situation in the region.
In an interview with COHA, a Puerto
Rican lawyer who has researched Chinese migration patterns explained
that “there was little migration to the island in the 19th century,
particularly compared to the migration that occurred in the 1990s and
early years of this century.” According to the 2010 U.S, census, there
are around 2,000 individuals who regard themselves as Chinese in Puerto
Rico, but Bu Dey Chen (who goes as Carlos Chao), a Chinese government
official in Puerto Rico, has stated that the number is closer to 6,000.[31] The
aforementioned lawyer explained that the Chinese community is a tight
nit group so not much is reported about them. In any case, Chinese
migrants to the island have, for the most part, managed to flourish,
opening their own restaurants and businesses, quickly becoming part of
the upper middle class. There are also professors of Chinese descent in
institutes of higher learning like the University of Puerto Rico in
Mayaguez.
An important academic text that has researched this issue is The Chinese in Latin America and the Caribbean (2009),
edited by Walton Lok Lai and Tan Chee-Beng. This important research
project includes chapters that touch on Sinophobia in the late 19th century/early 20th century
in the Americas and the Chinese in Central America. An interesting
chapter of the edited volume was authored by Kathleen Lopez and
discussed the Chinese in Cuba; the article starts with explaining how
each June 3rd, elderly Cubans and diplomats from the PRC meet
in the Regla port to commemorate the arrival of the first shipload of
200 Chinese laborers in 1847 (p.211). The article gives a very complete
picture of the migration waves that have settled in Cuba, particularly
in Havana.
Another academic text that touches on
this issue is a 2008 piece by Shin Yamamoto, a professor of Yoccachi
University in Japan. In his analysis, the academic explains that
“the Chinese community is counted as one of the three major races in the Caribbean alongside Africans and East Indians because of their economic power. Many chain restaurants or film developing stores are run or owned by Chinese; the youngsters in Jamaica, respectfully or just from their desire to get money or bottles of Coke, call them ‘Sir Chin’ or ‘Miss Chin.”[32]
Yamamoto highlights the case of Sean
Paul, a famous Jamaican reggae artist, who is an example of
intercultural relations in the Caribbean. The artist’s mother is Chinese
Jamaican and his father is Portuguese Jamaican.
Nevertheless, as previously mentioned,
understanding the Chinese diaspora in the Caribbean and how well it has
merged with local cultures over the years is a field that has to be
researched in greater depth. One academic that has carried out important
research on the topic is Lok Siu, an Associate Professor at the
University of Austin, that co-edited (with Rachel Parenas) Asian Diasporas: New Formations, New Conceptions.
A September 2011 article in the Jamaican
Observer explains, according to an official of the European Delegation
in Trinidad and Tobago, that the Caribbean attracts a large number of
illegal immigrants from China, among other poor countries.[33] The
article quotes the Charge d’Affaires at the European Delegation in
Trinidad and Tobago, Stelios Christopoulos, as saying that “very little
data is available to establish the in and outflow of people from and to
Caribbean countries. From what we do know however, the Caribbean has one
of the largest diasporic communities in the world, in proportion to the
population.”[34]
Conclusions
The Caribbean states, due to their lack
of abundance of supply of natural resources, and its scant potential for
economic growth, and the controversial nature of Taiwan’s recognition,
means that many regional states can expect to be actively courted by
Beijing and Taipei simultaneously . Currently, a number of regional
governments recognize Taiwan as an independent state, but this could
certainly change in the future, particularly if China threatens to take
its business elsewhere unless these nations alter their stance to
reflect the one-China policy. The issue of Chinese migration to the
Caribbean, both historical and current, is an important topic which is
worthy of further research, particularly as Chinese laborers continue to
permanently relocate to the Caribbean. In any case, the speed of
globalization means that the Caribbean, so geographically distant from
Asia, nevertheless is becoming a very important front in the struggle
for political influence, financial investments, as well as an important
component of the struggle over state recognition dispute between China
and Taiwan.
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