CHINA'S EXPLOITATION OF THE CARIBBEAN'S DYSFUNCTIONAL ECONOMY AND RAMPANT CORRUPTION TO EMBED ITSELF IN EAST CARIBBEAN CBI PROGRAMS HAS INCREASED FINANCIAL CRIME AND THREATENS NATIONAL SECURITY

If you want to blame anyone for the financial problems facing the East Caribbean states, economists and historians tell us it sits squarely on the shoulders of the United Kingdom, which granted independence to its colonial Caribbean territories which, outside of some tourism, had economies that were not prepared to support national governments, with all the agencies and other trappings of a nation-state, including providing government services to all the citizens.

As the direct and proximate result, many of these small democracies evolved into what can only be described as one-party states, with powerful, and legally bulletproof, leaders whose arrogance rivals those of some of the world's most powerful autocrats. After all, they believe that they are the leaders of sovereign nations, and if financial opportunities come their way, they should have the right to take advantage of them. Hence rampant and systemic corruption, which has infected the region since the early days of independence, which is Strike One.

Finally, forty years ago a government leader in the region, himself engaged in financial crime on a grand scale, created a scheme to relieve some of the financial distress being suffered by the East Caribbean, whose nations were in debt, and without any significant American assistance. The Citizenship by Investment (CBI/CIP) programs, providing funding in exchange for a passport from a jurisdiction whose citizens could freely enter most of the developed world, were seen as the solution to EC financial needs. Unfortunately, the region's corruption immersed itself in CBI; Strike Two.

Enter the expanding, autocratic Peoples' Republic of China,which finds the still cash-poor East Caribbean an easy target for its billions, and sees that becoming embedded in the CBI programs will allow it to gain both influence bordering on domination, as well as funding, provided by the world's wealthy, who want the privileges and immunities that come from a new nationality from a low risk jurisdiction whose citizens have carte blanche entry rights into Europe and elsewhere. Strike Three and Out.

So now, in 2024,we have a resurgent China essentially calling the shots in many capitals of the East Caribbean states, by virtue of its local financial strength, by being deeply integrated into each of the five CBI programs, due to the quantity of Chinese clients, and by illegally diverting literally billions in revenue to itself, through Chinese-controlled companies. Transnational criminals increasingly use the passports for their illicit purposes; China rakes in cash, and a National Security threat looms for not just the region, but the United States as well which has now, belatedly, noticed.

Things in the East Caribbean are about to get ugly; stay tuned.