China rubbishes comments by Rubio to OECS leaders

SOURCE-DOMINICA NEWS ONLINE- China has trashed comments made by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a meeting with heads of government of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) describing them as biased, disrespectful and ignorant of international relations norms.

On May 6, leaders of the OECS, including Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit met with Rubio in Washington DC and Rubio specifically warned them about China, a sign that the US was concerned over growing Chinese influence in the region.

“Secretary Rubio urged our partners to make responsible, transparent decisions when selecting vendors and contractors for critical infrastructure projects, ensuring they are not vulnerable to privacy and security risks and exploitation by malign actors like the Chinese Communist Party,” a release by State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said after the meeting.

China did not take the comments by Rubio lightly with the Chinese embassy in The Bahamas saying that China firmly opposed them and that they “revealed ideological bias and disrespect and ignorance of the basic norms in international relations.”

According to the statement, projects that China are involved in address needs for development and economic growth.

“Chinese-invested projects, whether ports or other facilities, aim to address local development needs, foster economic growth, and create employment opportunities,” the statement said.

It said the Caribbean is not the sphere of influence for any one nation.

“The outdated Cold War mentality and zero-sum game thinking should be abandoned and an open and inclusive approach should be adopted toward China’s cooperation with Latin America, the Caribbean, and The Bahamas. The world is vast enough to accommodate the common development and shared progress of all nations,” the Chinese Embassy pointed out.

Dominica and China share an extremely cozy relationship with the Asian nation undertaking several major infrastructural projects on the island, including the construction of the Windsor Park Sports Stadium, the Dominica-China Friendship Hospital (formerly the Princess Margaret Hospital) and the new Dominica Grammar School, the rehabilitation of the Dominica State College and the EO LeBlanc Highway. Additionally, China has sponsored the rehabilitation or construction of several schools and many other projects across the island. It was recently announced that China will be building a distribution center for Chinese goods in Dominica.

Following the meeting, Skerrit said Dominica’s relationship with China has been “very transparent’ and Beijing has been a major ally in the economic and social development of the island.

“What China is doing for Dominica is open for everybody to see, whether it’s the construction of schools or the hospital or the roads or support to farmers and small businesses or housing…” he stated. “China will continue to be a very strong and steadfast friend of Dominica. I don’t think our relationship with any country should be based on any
other country’s relationship with that country.”

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