by Suelin Low Chew Tung
Midmorning on Sunday, 26 March 2023, a 10-member group of Caribbean journalists witnessed the historic signing of the Joint Communiqué to establish diplomatic relations between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Honduras by Foreign Minister Qin Gang and Foreign Minister of Honduras Eduardo Reina.
The journalists represent 8 of the 10 Caribbean countries affiliated with China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI): Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Guyana, Grenada, Jamaica, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago; and while there are no Hondurans in our group, we were fortunate to be on site for this historic occasion, as the Central American country begins its engagement with China.
According to China’s 2016 Policy Paper on Latin America and the Caribbean, the development of China is not possible without the development of other developing countries, including those in Latin America and the Caribbean, so the China–Caribbean engagement primarily focuses on infrastructure investments and trade relationships. So far, 10 Caribbean countries have signed up to China’s BRI — the aforementioned plus Cuba and the Dominican Republic.
Haiti, Belize, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
Shortly after the official signing ceremony, our group briefly met with Cai Wei, Director-General of the Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs of the China Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the garden of 1,000 Willow Trees. The group had attended several press briefings over the past month, but none directly connected to the Caribbean region, nor any addressing China–Caribbean relations.
Director-General Cai answered several questions general to our region, and our group pressed for an in-depth meeting with us on China’s relationship with each country and to answer concerns about the terms and conditions of Chinese investments and their impact on the local landscape.
Suelin is a Grenadian visiting Beijing, hosted by China International Press Communication Centre (CIPCC), to report on China with a Grenadian view
Sue Lin lives on Grenada but is a Chinese propagandist operating as a so called journalist. When you are histed by China you are expected to say what they want you to say.
In earlier postings by Sue Lin she states she wants China to take over Grenada even more than they already have and for Grenada to follow Chinese doctrine to eliminate poverty of Grenadians.
She writes like a Chinese spy. Can you say Chinese Financial Colonization if the whole CARIBBEAN.
Bad choice… don’t trust China for a minute. They doing the same thing all over Caribbean countries, slowly take over…
Grenada should cut ties with China and adopt Taiwan….
Why is this story relevant to Grenadians?