U.S. Lawmakers Urge Action Over China in the Caribbean: 'Alarm Bells'

The United States must do more to block fast-growing Chinese influence in the Caribbean and Latin America, two prominent members of Congress told Newsweek after its report on China's extensive involvement on the island of Antigua.

"The alarm bells are ringing over China's increased presence in our hemisphere," Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), a member of the Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, and the Select Committee on Intelligence told Newsweek by email.

China's push into the strategically important region through diplomacy, loans, grants and investments posed economic and security challenges for the U.S. and it should be met in kind, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) told Newsweek in a telephone interview.

Krishnamoorthi is the Ranking Member of the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), as well as a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability.

The members of Congress were responding to reporting by Newsweek that documented the signing of a private deal in January for a new Chinese "Special Economic Zone" with exceptional privileges, a new airline to serve the zone, and a clutch of new agreements including one for Antiguan officials to study Chinese leader Xi Jinping's thoughts on governance and another for China to help rebuild Antigua's water piping system. The article also quoted concerns from the U.S. military's Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) over China's expanding presence in the region.

The Antiguan government of Prime Minister Gaston Browne has said that there was no cause for concern at the deepening relationship between Antigua and China. A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Antigua, Pang Qingjie, said China's cooperation with Antigua was in the interests of the Antiguan people.

On his regular radio show last Saturday, Browne said that ties between Antigua and Barbuda and the United States were close. He highlighted the importance of U.S. investments and the country's reliance on tourism from the U.S., but he also noted that China was the "most important developmental partner," Antigua.news reported.

Renewed Monroe Doctrine

Both Waltz and Krishnamoorthi said America's 19th century Monroe Doctrine should be renewed as part of more vigorous U.S. engagement in the region. That policy held that any intervention in the political affairs of a state in the Americas by foreign powers was a potentially hostile act and that the U.S. would protect its sphere of interest.

"I'm not saying that other countries should not participate in our hemisphere with countries here in Latin America. These are all sovereign nations that get to decide their own relationships," Krishnamoorthi said.

"However, in doing so, they should be well aware of the risks and entanglements associated with the CCP," which he called "the ultimate predator creditor."

China is Antigua's biggest lender nation, Browne told Newsweek, without giving figures.

An expanded U.S. presence should include meeting a request for more funding from SOUTHCOM, the Southern Command that is based in Florida, Krishnamoorthi said.

"I think one thing they requested was more funding to be able to participate in, and basically getting to know their neighbors, being available to help them as needed, identifying areas of cooperation, identifying potential security risks, and helping these countries with security risks."

Many countries in the Caribbean and Latin America had joined China's "Belt and Road Initiative," a trillion-dollar, global infrastructure program, he noted. But he said there were always strings attached to such lending, which China characterizes as "win-win" cooperation.

"You know, they are sometimes worse than that check cashing store on the corner that you should avoid if you're trying to get resources to do something. It's better to work with trusted partners," Krishnamoorthi said.

"I think that it's very important that we increasingly do outreach in this part of the world, to make sure that countries like Antigua and others understand what it means to receive support from the CCP," noting that China operated in a similar way elsewhere, such as in the South Pacific.

Krishnamoorthi said the U.S. should also give more in development assistance—something that Antiguan leader Browne and other ministers told Newsweek was vital for the small nation that was vulnerable to climate change and where livelihoods could be wiped out overnight by a hurricane.

Waltz echoed Krishnamoorthi's concerns and said political influence followed economic influence.

"We also have a Chinese spy base in Cuba that is 100 miles away from Florida, Chinese ownership of the port on the Caribbean side of the Panama Canal, and debt diplomacy in the Bahamas in the wake of Hurricane Dorian while we still don't even have an ambassador. This is a clear and present threat to our country given the sophistication of the CCP's espionage operations," Waltz said.

"We need a new Monroe Doctrine that specifically looks to block the economic and military influence of China," Waltz said.

"South America offers a wide array of critical minerals that are needed to power our modern economy. It's against our strategic interests for China to try and monopolize these exports and install military bases that can be used against us should a conflict arise over Taiwan's sovereignty," he said, referring to China's claim on self-ruling Taiwan.

Both China and Cuba have denied U.S. accusations that it has espionage facilities in Cuba.

Krishnamoorthi said he was unaware of any request for basing by China in the region, but that the U.S. needed to be aware that Beijing could be considering it.

"It's one thing for the CCP to have … embassies and consulates, and to foster business and people to people exchanges and to cooperate, you know, on different projects and so forth. It's another to, you know, continue some kind of aggressive posture," Krishnamoorthi said.

In his radio show, Antiguan Prime Minister Browne accused the opposition United Progressive Party (UPP) of disloyalty to the state and of being the "most serious threat" to the country after two of its members spoke to Newsweek in its report. He accused them of seeking to jeopardize Antigua's relationship with the U.S., Antigua.news reported.