Beautiful Virgin Islands

Wednesday, Sep 17, 2025

Blaming China’s investments for Barbados ditching Queen is Sinophobia. What stopped UK from developing its former colony?

Blaming China’s investments for Barbados ditching Queen is Sinophobia. What stopped UK from developing its former colony?

The decision by Barbados to axe the British monarch as titular head of state has unleashed anti-China paranoia claiming malign influence from Beijing. This is the poverty of Cold War zero-sum thinking.
The former Caribbean colony simply can’t assert its independence from Britain; there must be a sinister explanation, so the backward reasoning goes.

However, an alternative explanation is more straightforward, and on the money, literally.

Barbados has joined several other Caribbean states which are benefiting from billions of dollars of Chinese government investments in the region. The investments are for infrastructure projects: airports, sea ports, roads, hospitals, hotels and telecoms.

This is part of China’s global economic development plans known as the Belt and Road Initiative or “New Silk Road” which have already galvanized vast swathes of Asia and Africa.

Chinese investment in the Caribbean and more generally Latin America is just part of a wider global story. And Barbados is just a small part of the Caribbean chapter.

When Barbados announced earlier this month that it was going to make itself a republic by the end of next year and henceforth remove Britain’s Queen Elizabeth as its symbolic head of state there was a palpable feeling of stunned shock.

The British monarchy and Downing Street said the move was up to the people of Barbados, but there was a sense of chagrin over the apparent rejection.

Politicians like Conservative lawmaker Tom Tugendhat have since followed up with claims that China is putting undue pressure on Barbados to snub Britain.

“China has been using infrastructure investment and debt diplomacy as a means of control,” he told the media, adding that the island state was “swapping a symbolic Queen… for an Emperor in Beijing.”

Tugendhat, who chairs the UK’s parliamentary foreign affairs committee, is an inveterate hawk espousing anti-China and anti-Russia views. He’s a Cold War throwback who views international relations through the prism of alleged malign activities by China and Russia undermining Western democracies, NATO and every other institution no doubt.

What exactly China is doing in Barbados that is supposed to be malign is not specified. It’s a matter of prejudice and innuendo that if China is investing billions in foreign countries then it must be for a pernicious agenda. In short, this is Sinophobia, which we see also in its counterpart of Russophobia.

When Chinese President Xi Jinping made a state visit to Caribbean nations in 2013 he reportedly signed agreements for $3 billion in development investments.

Since then, total Chinese state investment is reckoned to have soared with several more Caribbean countries joining the Belt and Road Initiative. In addition to Barbados, they include Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Jamaica, Dominican Republic and Cuba.

Richard Bernal, a former Caribbean ambassador to the United States, is quoted as saying: “Chinese money became available and these countries were very happy to be able to borrow this money because they used it to build hospitals, build roads… It has generally developed a lot of goodwill.”

The fact is China has stepped in with much-needed development capital where former colonial power Britain is too broke to even take care of its own nation 6,000 kilometers away, and where the United States has a blighted history of invasions and bloody coups. (is it clear he refers to the region? Not Barbados in particular? I THINK SO)

Of course, Washington may be concerned that its presumed “backyard” is being revamped with Chinese foreign investment.

But it’s entirely reasonable for Beijing to expect countries benefiting from its financial aid to reciprocate by adhering to friendly policies, such as recognizing the One China Policy and repudiating for example the recognition of Taiwan as a separate state.

In other words, countries can be expected by Beijing to shun Washington’s hostility toward China and to chart a more independent line in foreign relations. That’s not malign. It’s called fair dues.

Barbados gained independence from Britain in 1966. Since then the British monarch remained as a symbolic head of state, similar to other nations such as Australia and Canada. But over the years, Barbados has been moving toward republican status.

A constitutional review advocated in 1998 that the island become a republic. China’s involvement is not something out of the blue either. Barbados signed a defense agreement with Beijing back in 2006.

A “symbolic” monarch is a relic of the past. For some Britons having their Queen as head of state in foreign nations may provide some nostalgia of former global glory.

But for the people of Barbados they are entitled to prioritize social and economic development in the here and now. If the investment comes from China and that gives Barbados the confidence to develop into a republic free from trappings of past British rule, then what is wrong with that? Nothing.

The only people who might take offense are empire-sentimentalists and incorrigible Cold Warriors who are compelled to find a sinister Chinese (or Russian plot) behind each and every development.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
The German Owner of Politico Mathias Döpfner Eyes Further U.S. Media Expansion After Axel Springer Restructuring
Suspect Arrested: Utah Man in Custody for Charlie Kirk’s Fatal Shooting
In a politically motivated trial: Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Plotting Coup After 2022 Defeat
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
×