NASSAU, Bahamas — The United States cannot allow China to exploit the recovery and rebuilding of The Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian for its own nefarious purposes and gain “a foothold just 50 miles from the coast of Florida,”U.S. Senator Marco Rubio said.
“By targeting the Bahamian government in this period of crisis, Beijing would be making the same opportunistic play to access critical foreign infrastructure,” quoted Rubio as saying in an op-ed in the Miami Herald on Saturday, September 14, according to the Nassau Guardian, one of The Bahamas’ major daily newspapers.
“But in this case, the national security threat is especially perilous, as it would give China a foothold just 50 miles from the coast of Florida,” Rubio wrote. “We cannot allow this to happen. It is on us to take the lead in helping the Bahamian people with their near-term, life-or-death struggle as only the U.S. and our military can, but also to be reliable partners over the long term.”
In the aftermath of the devastation caused Abaco and Grand Bahama, two major islands in the Northern Bahamas archipelago earlier this month, the U.S. government was quick to offer multi-tiered assistance, working in partnership with the Government of The Bahamas, including the National Emergency Management Authority, to deliver emergency supplies to address the immediate needs in the wake of Hurricane Dorian.
A September 6 press release from U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo noted that the U.S. Mission to The Bahamas, “working through multiple agencies of the U.S. government, is providing humanitarian assistance, search and rescue operations, and other disaster response measures as well as assisting U.S. citizens in the affected areas.”
“At the request of the Bahamian government, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) sent a Disaster Assistance Response Team to coordinate the U.S. response and provide technical support to the National Emergency Management Authority, which is managing the overall relief effort,” the release stated. “This is part of a broader international response effort that includes Caribbean partners, the United Kingdom, and Canada, so that the government of The Bahamas can provide life-saving and life-sustaining care to their people.”
In his Miami Herald Op-Ed, Senator Rubio stressed that a result of “70,000 Bahamians made homeless by the hurricane’s terrible power, the island nation is in urgent need of the kind of logistical assistance that only the U.S. Defense Department can offer.”
“By devoting available military and medical assets to the effort, we have the ability to help our afflicted neighbors and family members and save Bahamian lives,” Senator Rubio wrote. “I am advocating these measures because directing resources to assist Bahamians is the right thing to do. But there exists an additional imperative on the security national level, as well: if we fail to rise to the occasion, China will step in to seize the moment and exploit the recovery for its own nefarious purposes.”
According to the Nassau Guardian, the Senator noted that China has attempted to expand its presence and influence in The Bahamas in recent years, adding that the devastation to ports and airports on impacted islands leads the post-Dorian Bahamas to be “tailor-made for China exploitation.”
“In 2013, the Chinese government adopted a global development strategy called the Belt and Road Initiative which aims to assist with infrastructure development and investments in more than 140 countries and international organizations,” the Guardian’s article noted. “U.S. officials have frequently raised concerns about the initiative.”
Pointing out that Rubio described the initiative as a “predatory mercantilist international strategy,” the Guardian’s article added, “He said China uses the initiative to ‘hijack’ a country’s resources and infrastructure, “often dramatically ramping up the lending terms after initial negotiation.”
“After China worms its way in, it fuels corruption in domestic policymaking, as Beijing’s money lands in the hands of competing politicians,” Senator Rubio wrote. “Past parties have also said that Chinese intelligence and strategic considerations have been on the negotiating table. The goal is to leave nations beholden to Beijing for decades to come. It’s debt-trap diplomacy.”
Rubio added: “Bahamians are fortunate to have a stable and capable government already working overtime on the recovery effort. However, the level of destruction that Dorian caused is unprecedented, and Americans, as regional partners and global leaders, have both moral and national security imperatives to lend our logistical resources to help The Bahamas and defend our own hemisphere from China’s encroachment.
“Together, the U.S. and The Bahamas will rebuild those communities left reeling in the hurricane’s wake, and, as a result, we will only strengthen our mutual interests and long-standing relationship.”
