Post by anansi on Sept 27, 2020 1:50:34 GMT -5
CHINA’S $490 MILLION ‘INVESTMENT’ IN BARBADOS BEHIND SNAP DECISION TO REMOVE THE QUEEN
Ok so the Brits are crying, but for real?? anyone familiar with Caribbean politics know that there was always this push to dump the queen and be like Trinidad, Jamaica have been the most vocal about it, until operation charm offensive by Prince Harry posing with locals like Usin Bolt meeting with Rastas , and paying homage to one of the martiarchs, dancing to reggae, and yes it saved the crown from losing Jamaica, now Bajans , I didn't know they were fired up like that, because they are usually conservative about stuff like that, so what gives??..I seriously doubt if it's Chinese money tho, it wouldn't hurt, but accelerate any such on going process.
If the Island nations gonna play the game I do hope they play it in their long-term favor, to win it, not lose it... in this I kinda trust the Bajans more, stereotypically they are smarter than the rest of us.
Rum & fish cakes fer you.
BRIDGETOWN — China is behind Barbados’ snap decision to remove the British Queen as its head of state.
That’s the shocking claim of a conservative member of the UK Parliament who said that a Chinese investment of $490 million in Bridgetown’s tourism infrastructure forced the Barbadian leader’s hand in the matter this month.
“Some islands seem to be close to swapping a symbolic Queen in Windsor for a real and demanding emperor in Beijing,” Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the UK’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said. “It’s interesting because of course the UK is really not a monarchy, we’re a republic pretending to be a monarchy. The Crown in Parliament after all is simply a recognition that the people are sovereign.”
Tugendhat said Beijing is attempting to replace London’s historical status and presence in the Caribbean with a $600 million loan to Cuba, a $1 billion loan to Antigua and Barbuda, a $1.9 billion loan to Trinidad & Tobago, a $450 million loan to the Bahamas and a $2.7 billion loan for Jamaica.
That’s the shocking claim of a conservative member of the UK Parliament who said that a Chinese investment of $490 million in Bridgetown’s tourism infrastructure forced the Barbadian leader’s hand in the matter this month.
“Some islands seem to be close to swapping a symbolic Queen in Windsor for a real and demanding emperor in Beijing,” Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the UK’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said. “It’s interesting because of course the UK is really not a monarchy, we’re a republic pretending to be a monarchy. The Crown in Parliament after all is simply a recognition that the people are sovereign.”
Tugendhat said Beijing is attempting to replace London’s historical status and presence in the Caribbean with a $600 million loan to Cuba, a $1 billion loan to Antigua and Barbuda, a $1.9 billion loan to Trinidad & Tobago, a $450 million loan to the Bahamas and a $2.7 billion loan for Jamaica.
“China has been using infrastructure investment and debt diplomacy as a means of control for a while and it’s coming closer to home for us,” he told The London Times.
Meanwhile, CIA intelligence in the U.S. about Chinese activities in Barbados has now reportedly been shared with Britain.
China has poured billions of dollars of investment into the Caribbean in recent years while signing tax and trade deals in an attempt to wrest the region out of the West’s sphere of influence and bring it under the sway of Beijing.
The Chinese government has invested at least $7 billion in six Caribbean nations since 2005, records complied by the American Enterprise Institute show — building roads, ports and the five-star Baha Mar casino and resort in the Bahamas — though the true figure is thought to run well into the tens of billions.
Meanwhile, CIA intelligence in the U.S. about Chinese activities in Barbados has now reportedly been shared with Britain.
China has poured billions of dollars of investment into the Caribbean in recent years while signing tax and trade deals in an attempt to wrest the region out of the West’s sphere of influence and bring it under the sway of Beijing.
The Chinese government has invested at least $7 billion in six Caribbean nations since 2005, records complied by the American Enterprise Institute show — building roads, ports and the five-star Baha Mar casino and resort in the Bahamas — though the true figure is thought to run well into the tens of billions.
In the past, China has been particularly generous with nations that have agreed to cut relations with Taiwan — a country in the East China Sea which Beijing claims as a province — and establish ties with Bejing instead.
In 2005, China rewarded the island of Grenada, which has an annual GDP of just $1.8 billion, with a brand new $55 million cricket stadium after it cut relations with Taiwan.
Similarly, in 2018, the Dominican Republic received Chinese investments and loans thought to have exceeded $3 billion after it also cut ties with Taipei.
Beijing has largely moved away from vote-buying projects in recent years, however, and now largely focuses on economic deals aimed at providing work for its citizens, acquiring resources such as rare earth materials and food, and providing long-term trading and economic benefits.
vifreepress.com/2020/09/chinas-490-million-investment-in-barbados-behind-snap-decision-to-remove-the-queen-tory-mp/
In 2005, China rewarded the island of Grenada, which has an annual GDP of just $1.8 billion, with a brand new $55 million cricket stadium after it cut relations with Taiwan.
Similarly, in 2018, the Dominican Republic received Chinese investments and loans thought to have exceeded $3 billion after it also cut ties with Taipei.
Beijing has largely moved away from vote-buying projects in recent years, however, and now largely focuses on economic deals aimed at providing work for its citizens, acquiring resources such as rare earth materials and food, and providing long-term trading and economic benefits.
vifreepress.com/2020/09/chinas-490-million-investment-in-barbados-behind-snap-decision-to-remove-the-queen-tory-mp/
Ok so the Brits are crying, but for real?? anyone familiar with Caribbean politics know that there was always this push to dump the queen and be like Trinidad, Jamaica have been the most vocal about it, until operation charm offensive by Prince Harry posing with locals like Usin Bolt meeting with Rastas , and paying homage to one of the martiarchs, dancing to reggae, and yes it saved the crown from losing Jamaica, now Bajans , I didn't know they were fired up like that, because they are usually conservative about stuff like that, so what gives??..I seriously doubt if it's Chinese money tho, it wouldn't hurt, but accelerate any such on going process.
If the Island nations gonna play the game I do hope they play it in their long-term favor, to win it, not lose it... in this I kinda trust the Bajans more, stereotypically they are smarter than the rest of us.
Rum & fish cakes fer you.
