By Caribbean News Now contributor
Washington, DC – At the opening of Caribbean legislative week on Capitol Hill, June 5, Antigua and Barbuda’s ambassador to the United States, Sir Ronald Sanders, stated “China offers Caribbean countries a lifeline for development in the absence of others.”
“Caribbean countries have welcomed Chinese investment, including loans from the government of China, not because they wish to displace traditional friends or to diminish their valued relations, but because China offers a lifeline for development in the absence of others.”
“We would be ducking an important issue if we did not note the expressed unhappiness in some quarters by the presence of the Peoples Republic of China as a partner in the economic development of the Caribbean,” Sanders continued.
“Without China’s investment over the last decade, the Caribbean region, as in Latin America, would have stagnated, if not reversed,” Sanders explained: “Typically, Chinese government loans are for 20 years at two percent interest and because of them, Caribbean countries have been able to build infrastructures, such as seaports, airports, low-cost housing, roads and schools. No other government, nor commercial or development bank offers such beneficial terms,” he said.
Pertaining to concerns expressed by US government representatives about China’s involvement in the Caribbean, Sir Ronald explained that, “Today, the majority of CARICOM countries are stable democracies. But these conditions are only sustainable in conditions of…
