Laos and Sierra Leone have received investment from China that is greater than their GDP.
China has invested more than £685billion across 42 Commonwealth member states since 2005 as the Communist Party’s extraordinary bid for global power continues unimpeded.
As China increases its power in the Caribbean, and targets weak Commonwealth countries around the globe, foreign policy hawks accuse Britain of being “completely asleep at work for decades”.
Beijing plans to make huge amounts of money in poor countries like Barbados or Jamaica to create unpayable debts and force them to pay the security assets. Some cases have included ports along critical waterways. This allowed the Communist Party of China to take on rival superpowers, such as America and India.
Figures compiled by the American Enterprise Institute show that China has invested almost £500million into roads, homes, sewers and a hotel in Barbados, the Caribbean island which is distancing itself from British influence as it becomes a republic on Tuesday.
In nearby Jamaica, Beijing has invested around £2.6billion against a gross domestic product of £16.4billion, making the country the biggest recipient of Chinese money in the Caribbean.
When China wanted UN members to back its draconian Hong Kong National Security Law, it received support from Papua New Guinea and Antigua and Barbuda – two out of the 16 remaining Commonwealth realms. The former has received £5.3billion in Chinese investment (21 per cent of its GDP), while the latter receiving £1billion (60 per cent of its GDP).
Others Commonwealth members who supported Beijing’s crackdown on Hong Kong include Sierra Leone (where Chinese investments have accounted for 145 percent of its GDP since 2005), Lesotho and Cameroon, as well as Zambia, Lesotho and Mozambique.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has announced plans to replace the Commonwealth Development Corporation with a new body, British International Investment, to provide ‘up to £8billion’ of investment per year in Commonwealth countries by 2025. China-hawks, however, have criticised the government’s inept response to Beijing.
Alan Mendoza was the Henry Jackson Society’s executive director.
“It’s a clever move, and we are late because we don’t really understand the scope of the challenge.
China is commercially exploiting the Commonwealth. We need to be able to offer a better solution. Is the UK able to direct western investments funds towards these areas?
China has invested more than £685billion across 42 Commonwealth member states since 2005 as the Communist Party’s extraordinary bid for global power continues unimpeded
Chinese President Xi Jinping voted at the close of the 19th Communist Party Congress (October 24, 2017).
The Queen pictured with Governor-General of Barbados Dame Sandra Mason at Windsor Castle in 2018
Pictured above, front, President Xi Jinping at a CCP session in Beijing, on October 18, 2017
Helena Kennedy (a well-known human rights barrister) said: “What China is doing it is a way to get friends. It impacts votes at the UN. You can end up having client states when you attempt to achieve a more collaborative approach.
It has a severe impact and it can lead to a return to old Cold War scenarios. This is not good for our future. They are beginning to influence our area of influence with the money that they invest.
“One wishes to strengthen the Commonwealth and not see it destroyed.”
Pakistan, which is the biggest recipient of UK Overseas Development Assistance, has received £60billion of investment from China, more than a fifth of its GDP, since 2005, and now buys 70 per cent of its arms from Beijing.
Americans think that Pakistani officials pass on the arms to Taliban. This enabled them to destroy coalition forces and to disrupt the economy.
China has used this as a pretext for entering the country and exploiting its vast mineral resources, which include coal, copper and iron ore.
When recipient countries such as Sri Lanka cannot afford to repay the high interest loans, they are forced to hand over the assets used as security – which in this case was the Hambantota container port and 15,000 acres of land around it on a 99-year lease.
China has gained a strong foothold in the shipping channel dominated by India, a rival power.
China is known for being generous and accommodating to nations who have cut all ties with Taiwan in the East China Sea, which Beijing regards as its province.
China awarded Grenada, an island with a $1.8 billion annual turnover, a $55million new cricket stadium in 2005 after the country cut all relations with Taiwan.
In 2018, also, the Dominican Republic was able to receive Chinese loans and investments that topped $3billion.
Beijing has been largely disengaged from the vote-buying activities in recent years and now concentrates on economic agreements aimed at creating work for its citizens, acquiring rare earth materials, food and long-term trade and economic benefits.
Leaders from South America and the region signed a roadmap for 2019-2021 with China in 2018. This was part of CELAC, a trade bloc. It aimed at deepening political and economic ties.
A Chinese firm recently took complete control of Jamaica Kingston Freeport (the island’s largest container port, and the biggest in the Caribbean) in April.
China is also investing heavily in Cuba. It has helped modernize Santiago de Cuba, the country’s 2nd-largest port. A new shipping terminal opened in 2019.
Chris Bennett is the managing director at The Caribbean Council in London. He told Mail Online that China has gradually seized control over strategic assets needed for trading within the region.
It controls the two largest containers ports in the area, and has large land holdings in Jamaica, Guyana, and Suriname. There are also multiple oil and gas blocks and vast mineral deposits, including bauxite, and gold.
China has made it impossible for Western contractors to compete in the face of cheap Chinese credit by linking concessional finance with Chinese labor and Chinese contractors.
China has recently demonstrated what they believe is a hypersonic orbital nu weapon. This weapon can be used to avoid missile defences, such as those of a Cold War-era fractional or orbital bombardment system.
Boris Johnson is listening to Mateusz Morawiecki the Prime Minister, Poland at 10 Downing Street
For example, British construction firm Kier was forced to exit both the Caribbean and Hong Kong three years ago, at an estimated loss of £72million, in part because of competition from China.
Guyana, which China holds a significant interest since 2014’s discovery of large oil resources there, is accepting bids for the rebuilding of Demerara Harbour Bridge.
The original construction was done with British aid in the 1970s. Seven out of 11 bidding contracts for the rebuilding project are from China.
Barbados and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding, which makes it part of China’s Belt and Road initiative. Also known as “the new Silk Road”, This agreement will see Barbados develop its aviation, shipping and infrastructure sectors.
But not all have welcomed China’s increasing presence in the region. Because Taiwan is recognized by the region, there has been no trade or investment between China and St Vincent, St Lucia St Kitts and Haiti.
Locals are also feeling resentful after seeing large-scale construction projects given to Chinese laborers under loan agreements, which has resulted in them losing their income.
Most labourers go back to China after their work is done, but some people have decided not to leave and started businesses in China, especially in retail. This has furthered the animosity.
Chinese investors have spent at least £134billion on UK assets, including private schools, infrastructure businesses and top ranked British firms.
The Sunday Times reports that investors and businesses located in China or Hong Kong own shares in major infrastructure companies such as Thames Water and Heathrow Airport.
As much as £57billion is also invested in FTSE 100 companies, according to the paper.
And, as previously reported by the Mail on Sunday, Chinese firms have also invested heavily in prestigious private schools – including Thetford Grammar School and Bournemouth Collegiate College – to the tune of around £10billion.
The paper reports that the Chinese have been spending more than ever since 2019.
Most of the purchases uncovered during the probe with data provider Argus Vicker occurred within the last two year.
And at least £44billion of the purchases are by Chinese state-owned businesses, the paper reports.
It warns that, due to the difficulty in tracing some investments, the total investment figure could be far higher than the £134billion calculated.