By: Rebecca Theodore
March 28, 2025
In China’s potential for war against Taiwan, one thing is certain. The Caribbean is a potential national security threat for the United States.
Although the subject of United States Caribbean national security has always been a crucial component on bilateral agendas, it is now evident, that authoritarian regimes like China are crushing democratic movements in the Caribbean. China is now rewriting international national security norms to advance their interests.
Within this light, many Caribbean nations are set to become very problematic in the competition between authoritarianism and democracy, thus absconding from the West.
While many Americans may not regard the Caribbean as of much significance, the Caribbean is the third border of the United States. The Caribbean plays a great strategic role to the well being of the United States through bonds of commerce, geography, and family.
In this context, China’s emergence as a global power in the Caribbean is one of the chief fundamental factor that triggers a new United States national security concern. If figures of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) are correct, then China’s acceptance into the World Trade Organization not only increases China’s bilateral trade with the Caribbean eightfold; but the US must now seek to interact positively with the Caribbean in the provision of sustainable economic opportunities to provide substitutes to the rapacious actions of PRC-based companies there. It is well known that signature Chinese projects in the Caribbean include the $4.2 billion Chinese-owned Baha Mar Resort, and Hutchison Port Holdings of the Freeport port complex in the Bahamas. Also, reports from generation.com, UCLA’s foreign affairs magazine states, that Jamaica is the centerpiece of Chinese engagement in the Caribbean, with China currently financing $2.1 billion worth of projects there, followed by investment in Suriname of $773 million and elsewhere.
The problem here is that, not only is China expanding its strategic foothold perilously close to U.S. shores, thus disturbing national security operations with the United States, but Chinese influence in the Caribbean is now having a powerful impact on the electoral process of many Caribbean states. It is the supposition, that Chinese influence on the electoral process are the cause of divisive domestic politics; technological disruption and long term governments in the Caribbean. These electoral events must also be noted, as they help in shaping the corrupted and convoluted foreign policies and national security of Caribbean states.
Meanwhile, the Chinese agenda in the Caribbean goes further. Chinese engagement in the Caribbean has given rise to Confucius institutes in Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, Dominica, and Trinidad and Tobago among others. The problem for the U.S. is that this Chinese influence in the Caribbean is set to grow, and become a major political national security force.
It is also significant to note that beyond commercial and cultural activities, China is also showing its interest in the Caribbean through engagement with its security institutions. According to CNN files, China has been operating military and intelligence facilities in Cuba since 2019, and is continuing to expand its intelligence gathering capabilities around the world. In addition, a report by the Wall Street Journal further clarifies, that Cuba agreed to allow China to build a new spying facility on the island that could allow the Chinese to eavesdrop on electronic communications across the southeastern United Staes. Evidently, the installation of an electronic intelligence collection base by China in the republic of Cuba, and negotiations with Russia and Iran for the establishment of military forces in the Caribbean basin should now propel the Trump administration to rise to the occasion to take U.S. national security relationship with its Caribbean partners in a more positive direction. Further the recent announcement by Chinese ambassador Chu Maorning of a distribution center for Chinese products on the Caribbean island of Dominica propels even greater attention to the issue of maritime and aerial security, law enforcement capacity building, border and port security, and crime prevention by the United States.
At the same time, money laundering and the citizenship by investment program (CBI) presently poses another challenge that threatens the national security of U.S Caribbean relations. Disputes over cheap dishonest sale of Dominica passports are now entangled in many claims in Washington that the Caribbean island of Dominica is the chief gateway for terrorists and a threat to the national security of the United States. Similarly, the Caribbean’s reputation as a “tax haven” has led major banks to evade correspondent banking relationships in an effort to reduce risks. This has led to a negative impact on the financial health of the Caribbean. Moreover, geopolitical tensions, armed violence and a Venezuelan gang epidemic, exacerbated by drug trafficking, organ harvesting and competition for drug routes, further fuels the national security dilemma.
Noteworthy is that, Chinese engagement in the Caribbean is growing and the United States require cohesive solutions to address its national security issues. International cooperation with the United States plays a crucial role in combating crime and corruption, and strengthening institutions in the Caribbean. .
In the grand theater of public discourse, congressional action must be resolute if the United States truly desires to regain its traditional influence and competence in the Caribbean. The U.S Southern Command’s Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF-S), must begin working in coordination with the Eastern Caribbean’s Regional Security System, (RSS) in the patrolling for drug-smugglers. There must be a State Department-led Response to China initiative for the Caribbean to respond to the challenge of the PRC advance.
At the same time, the United States should also develop information collection, communication, and incentive strategies particular to the Caribbean context. By addressing these challenges head-on, the U.S can reaffirm its strategic credibility and strengthen its deterrent position in the Caribbean. At a time when China is actively working to capture global leadership in the realm of national security, addressing the Caribbean’s troubling national security concerns is essential to preserving a U.S efficacy in a rapidly evolving global national security landscape.
(Rebecca Theodore is an international journalist and syndicated op-ed columnist based in New York. She writes on the platform of national security, politics, human rights and the environment. Email her at rebethd@aol.com )
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