Caribbean–China relations

Caribbean regional relations with China, which is defined as: the People's Republic of China (PRC; "China") or the Republic of China (ROC; "Taiwan"), are mostly based on trade, credits, and investments, which have increased significantly since the 1990s. For many Caribbean nations, the increasing ties with China have been used as a way to decrease long time over-dependence on the United States. The Overseas Chinese population, in this case Chinese Caribbeans, help make the connections with trade and political links. As of 2021, nine states in the Caribbean recognized the PRC and four recognized the ROC.

Caribbean–China relations

Caribbean	China

Caribbean–Taiwan relations

Caribbean	Taiwan

Additionally, China's policy in the region has been the use of "dollar diplomacy" or the attempts to switch several nations from recognizing Taiwan as an independent nation, towards the recognition of the "One China" policy, in exchange for Chinese investment. Outside of China's stated position on where it stands about Taiwan, trade between China and the Caribbean region has been steadily increasing.

China has also expanded several levels of cooperation with the Caribbean region. China and the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago were said to have formed an agreement where asphalt from Trinidad and Tobago would be exported to China during its construction boom in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.[1][2] In exchange, China has led several construction projects in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean region via Chinese owned construction companies. Trinidad and Tobago has also mooted the idea of starting direct shipments of oil and liquid natural gas direct from Trinidad and Tobago to China, to fuel the later's growing need for resources to fuel their economy.

As the Caribbean political heads of government have had several messy run-ins with the Bush administration in the United States with respect to recent demands, China has been more sympathetic to the Caribbean position globally and has stepped up military training exercises in the Caribbean for example in direct response to several sanctions placed on governments in the Caribbean region for not following the wishes of the Bush administration.

Several capital-works or infrastructural projects across the Caribbean region have also been financed by the Chinese government.[3]

Many projects by China in the region consist of far less meddling into the internal democratic affairs of Caribbean States as the United States. and as such provide a much more straight forward relationship strictly based on trade and less about hemispheric imperialism.