Posted on 10/09/2011 12:32:51 PM PDT by AfricanChristian
China is continuing its bold economic and geopolitical march through the Caribbean and Latin America, using its growing economic might to dole out grant aid and soft loans to win friends and influence governments, continuing its plans to displace the United States as the region's major trading partner in the not-too-distant future.
For two days this week, a large Chinese delegation led by Vice-Premier Wang Qishan spent hours in talks with Caribbean leaders and business delegations. By the time the forum ended in Trinidad's capital of Port of Spain, Beijing had unveiled measures worth $6.3 billion aimed at sealing better relations with the 15-nation Caribbean trade bloc.
Among the measures Wang announced were the aforementioned concession loans to support regional economic development, a million-dollar donation to the Caribbean Development Fund, support for building a seismic tsunami warning center, increased training of doctors and nurses and a plan to woo Chinese tourists to the Caribbean.
This week's activities centered around the third China-Caribbean forum and attracted more presidents and prime ministers than any of the previous forums, as well as cabinet ministers and business delegations from nearly every country.
For its part, China brought 13 ministers and 80 high-level officials, some of whom sauntered off with various countries to sign bilateral agreements.
(Excerpt) Read more at newamericamedia.org ...
Yes, indeed. And the US just sits and watches.
We better start learning Chinese, before long they’ll take over the US too, before we realize what’s happening.
“China’s march through the Caribbean continues”
No doubt that Ron Paul doesn’t see a problem there either.
China will learn...How do you make a small fortune in the Caribbean? Come with a large fortune!
If you have any questions for “the administration”, just look under his desk for him.....
I can't wait to see the improvements they do in Haiti, since we have been shoveling money into that black hole (no pun intended) for decades with no signs of improvement.
and a plan to woo Chinese tourists to the Caribbean.
Gonna be interesting to see what happens when that first tourist is mugged or raped in Jamaica.
The US rightly focused on counter-terrorism after 9/11. However, the US was so focused on that one problem that it lost track of other equally weighty issues - e.g. the brewing financial crisis and the rise of China.
The Chinese were very smart at seizing opportunities from a distracted United States. When Bush traveled to Malaysia and Indonesia in the wake of 9/11, he was only interested in counter-terrorism but his hosts also wanted to talk economics. He didn’t get it.
Hu Jintao flew down very quickly and signed all sorts of deals with these people. He was all over the place, traveling from South East Asia to Latin America to Africa.
It is not too late for America, America needs a leader who can push for serious economic diplomacy in 2013.
I say let the Chinese spend all their money on third world countries and get nothing in return. We have spent billions and have gotten nowhere. The U.S. Simply cannot afford the Neocon globalist money and wars for peace initiatives anymore...
Will the ChiCom “snakeheads” bring in “tourists”, get them “papers” and then rent yachts and smuggle them to the USVI (south shore of St Croix, Coral Bay on St. John or Puerto Rico. Not kidding, this isn’t anything new, it’s round 3 or 4. “We’ve” caught a lot of “um” over the years!
That's simply not correct, US businesses in the so-called "Third World" are very profitable. What is not profitable is US aid which is transferred to Swiss Bank accounts.
Ford's business in Brazil, for example, is very profitable and apart from Venezuela and a few basket cases, you can do very profitable business in Latin / Central America.
They are not spending money on Haiti.
Instead of aid lets allow businesses to invest and get out of their way. Seems to me our governmnet allows aid to go to the wrong place and no one seems to be held into account.
The beast must be starved of funds...
How’s that “free trade” thing working, America?
I hope the Caribbean people will remember if it is China or the US who comes to their aid during earthquakes and hurricanes.
They won’t.
They will remember who pays appropriate bribes.
Providing relief during earthquakes and hurricanes is important, but it is not as important as facilitating job creation.
A nation can go through a decade without a single earthquake or serious hurricane damage, but unemployment is a more serious and more constant problem.
If you noticed, most (if not all of these nations) have unemployment problems.
The US won the “soft power” stakes during the Cold War largely because it could provide more economic opportunities than the Soviet bloc. If the US or its allies are no longer seen as the premier catalyst for economic growth in many parts of the World, then US leadership is badly compromised.
Secondly, we are talking about the Caribbean here, America’s backyard. If the US can’t be competitive here, at least team up with India and inject some dynamism in your trade relations. There is no point chasing bad guys half a World away if you neglect your corner of the Globe.
Thirdly, if you were paying attention to the news, you would have noticed that China launched a 10,000 tonne hospital ship in 2008. They are thinking ahead about projecting soft power during earthquakes and hurricanes.
The Chinese learned pretty quick who would play their game and who was looking for another handout. and another. and another. I don’t want to believe that all the countries and people in that part of the world just want to be given everything but I know for a fact some are that way. I know there are areas that couldn’t care less that massive amounts of drugs are passing through their land as long as they get a little money. China won’t put up with their laziness for long. No profit in it.
the world didn’t like american “imperialists”,
so we’ll see how they like the chicom imperialists.
Just to elaborate on my earlier point - from "Strategy Page"
China has built its first hospital ship. It has three older ones that are converted transports, as well as a medical training ship. But the new vessel, a Type 920 Hospital Ship, is 530 feet long, displaces 23,000 tons, and was designed and built as a hospital ship. It has 600 beds, plus operating rooms, laboratories, pharmacy and crew quarters. China did not give out any statistics, but based on Western hospital ships, the Type 920 probably has a ship crew of about 200 and a medical crew of about 600. China has also built emergency medical facilities that fit into a standard cargo container. Hook up water and electricity, and you can care for all but the most severely injured casualties.
The Type 920 class was designed with disaster relief in mind. This ship can get up most Chinese rivers, and thus can reach many areas where natural disasters cause massive amounts of injuries. China may also be thinking of copying the U.S. Navy, which regularly uses its two hospital ships for providing medical care to areas where there isn't much to begin with, and to areas hit by natural disasters.
I don't believe this is just about the economy.
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