In a shift that challenges U.S. Southern Command Command’s position of ideology in the Americas, China has been “exploiting a delicate safety environment and taking advantage of the country’s need for financial expense.” General , Laura Richardson just told Congress , in written evidence.
The Atlantic island nation of Antigua and Barbuda, located about 220 kilometers from the U. S. Virgin Islands, is where China is planning to establish a specific Chinese- work economic zone,  , according to documents reviewed by Newsweek
Only The News ,  , reports that per the papers, the location will have its own customs and immigration services, a shipping port and it will also issue visas. China may establish a number of different types of businesses, each with a focus on virology and facial surgery, which are strongly linked to Wuhan research that is thought to be the cause of the COVID- 19 pandemic.
SOUTHCOM’s spokesperson stated that the U.S. military is “aware” that China may use its business and political presence for defense purposes. China has previously violated business partnerships at host-country ports for military purposes in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East; our problem is that they may do the same in this area.
More than two- thirds of the 31 nations under SOUTHCOM’s role have signed onto China’s buckle- and- road program, which is Beijing’s system to give money to developing nations to use for infrastructure projects, according to Just The News.
Many countries have had issues with repaying for loans, resulting in Beijing seizing the government’s property. For instance, in 2017, Sri Lanka struggled to repay Beijing and preferably signed off on the rights to a proper slot, according to Foreign Policy.
Rep. Eric Burlison, R- Mo., a member of the House Oversight Committee proving China’s invasion inside the U. S. sphere of influence, told Only the News on Monday evening that Beijing’s aggression in the Caribbean reminded him of the Soviet’s intervention in Fidel Castro’s Cuba more than a half century before.
” It reminds me of Russia’s involvement in Cuba, just 220 miles off the shore of the US Virgin Islands. We have Antigua. It was once viewed as the backwaters of the United States. Unfortunately, today, it’s China’s front yard”, Burlison told the” Just the News, No Noise” television show. And China has used the international community to enter loan agreements and contracts to establish trade zones within Antigua in order to expand its presence in the Caribbean.
” And this is just one of their efforts around the world, whether it’s in Laos or in African nations. They’re they’re creating a network to try to undermine the U. S. dollar and try to end run around some of our tariffs and other programs”, he warned.
