NASSAU, BAHAMAS – A U.S. political commentator and former Trump administration appointee is warning The Bahamas about China’s “wolf warrior diplomacy,” urging “caution” as China’s influence in the region grows.
Former Deputy National Security Adviser KT McFarland, who served under the previous Trump administration, addressed the RF Group’s Bahamas Economic Outlook on Wednesday. She stated: “The United States is looking at the Caribbean and saying, you know, we always think of you as like our best friends, our pals. But we’re also seeing the Chinese, not just in the Bahamas, but in a lot of the countries.”
McFarland noted: “Nobody’s going to tell Bahamians what to do or how to do it. Or if we do, it’s sort of silly, because you always make up your own minds anyway. But I would think that the United States would be your longer-term better prospect. And the last thing anyone in the Caribbean should want to be is a tug of war in the middle, because I just think it will be very difficult for any American president to say, look at Guantanamo Bay, or look at Cuba, or look at any of the countries in the Caribbean, and think of them as potential places where China could get a big foothold, particularly as China would look at these countries, especially the ones with ports, and say potentially there’s a military port.”
The comments by McFarland are the latest salvo in pro-American geopolitical gamesmanship, with American officials speaking out against China’s influence in the region.
Last month, speaking at the Grand Bahama Business Outlook, Kimberly Furnish, U.S. Charge d’Affaires, reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to the region. Furnish, a top U.S. Embassy official, called out the “malign influence” of its opponents, namely China, stressing that the United States aims to be the partner of choice for The Bahamas in strengthening infrastructure and promoting shared prosperity in the region, adding, “China promises much, but delivers little.”
McFarland pointed to China’s One Belt, One Road strategy, arguing that the nation wanted to use investments to gain a strategic foothold in various countries to its benefit.
She continued: “And then, often with a loan, they’ll give you loans, but they’ll be predatory loans. So China builds a port in Pakistan for trade at a very high-interest cost, which they say to the Pakistanis, ‘Oh, don’t worry about it, it’ll be great. You’ll be able to pay it back,’ and then they can’t pay it back.”
She explained further: “And then China takes control of that port and turns it from a trading port into a military part of the port. So China looks at the world and thinks they want to control their country, and they also want to control an overland trade route, and they really want to create what we would think of as the old Roman Empire, right, where they really controlled the trade across the Eurasian landmass. So China looks at countries in the Caribbean, and I think is aiming to do the very same thing.”
“So be cautious. You make your own decisions. But remember, it’s called wolf warrior diplomacy for a reason, which is that the Chinese have come in in a very friendly way, look like they’re doing a lot of good, telling you it’s going to be great for your country, your investment, and your economic opportunities and employment, but often it doesn’t work out that way,” said McFarland.
Following Furnish’s comments last month Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell firmly stated that The Bahamas is not involved in any ideological or geopolitical conflicts. Minister Mitchell, in a statement, emphasized that The Bahamas’ foreign policy is rooted in mutual respect and national interest rather than any alignment with the broader geopolitical struggles between major powers.
