There is no doubt that the Chinese delegation to the Third China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Forum, journeyed to Port-of-Spain earlier this month with the specific intention of dazzling the region with its new-found status as one of the world’s few genuine economic giants.
In one fell swoop the Chinese have made it clear to the Caribbean that Beijing is prepared to “pick up the slack” arising out of the sharp reduction of bilateral aid from the region’s traditional partners in the west and, moreover, that its ties with the Caribbean can now go far beyond the government-to-government agreements that had characterized an earlier era.
In the aftermath of the two-day Port-of-Spain forum we have learnt that that the Chinese have concluded not one but two loan agreements with the region, each worth US$1 billion. One of the
