ARGUMENT: China & the CaribbeanAssessing China’s Presence and Power in the Caribbean

Published 18 June 2021

Foreign policy discussions around China-Caribbean engagement have been uniformly skewed toward speculation on China’s intentions in the Caribbean. Rasheed Griffith writes that it is not too late for the U.S. to arrest the deepening of China-Caribbean engagement, which could result in policies which are contrary to U.S. strategic interests. “But assessing U.S. interests in this area requires wrestling with the facts on the ground and countering Chinese influence with realistic and robust alternatives,” he writes.

Foreign policy discussions around China-Caribbean engagement have been uniformly skewed toward speculation on China’s intentions in the Caribbean. Rasheed Griffith writes in Lawfare that it is not too late for the U.S. to arrest the deepening of China-Caribbean engagement, which could result in policies which are contrary to U.S. strategic interests. “But assessing U.S. interests in this area requires wrestling with the facts on the ground and countering Chinese influence with realistic and robust alternatives,” he writes, adding:

U.S. policymakers have devoted little time and effort to gaining a nuanced understanding of what the Caribbean has gained and hopes to gain from its engagement with China. The Caribbean is not an idle player. Regional governments actively seek deals from Chinese firms and government organizations—often with significant success. In addition to asking why China is engaging in the Caribbean, one needs to ask why do Caribbean countries so readily seek out deals with Chinese firms?

One problem that prevents this question from being posed is that the U.S.(from think tanks to policy staff) tends to treat the Caribbean as a foreign policy Rorschach test—these people simply look through the island chain and see what they want, instead of what is actually there. This imprinting leads to policy miscalculation with consequences. A robust U.S. foreign policy must consider that the Caribbean region is heterogeneous and has its own agency. To fully examine the Caribbean’s agency and its interests, it will be useful to examine a few case studies, including Taiwan-Caribbean relations, offshore financial centers, Chinese construction in the Caribbean and citizenship by investment programs (CIPs).

Griffith concludes:

The cases highlighted above should add nuance to the conversations around China-Caribbean engagement. The U.S should calibrate its foreign policy toward the region to optimize the interests not only of the U.S. but also of the Caribbean. It is from this perspective that the U.S can alleviate the growing concern that Caribbean leaders have of zero-sum competition intensified by the protracted acrimony between China and the U.S. By geographic, historical and cultural fact, the Caribbean is tethered to the U.S.—not China. The U.S. has to be a reliable partner in sustaining that link.