Senior US generals gave lawmakers strong warnings about what they called the “aggressive” growth of Chinese power in South America and the Caribbean, which they said was hurting American interests in the area.
Gen. Laura Richardson, commander of US Southern Command, said on Wednesday, “The [People’s Republic of China] has the ability and the will to ignore international norms, advance its own brand of authoritarianism, and gain power and influence at the expense of these democracies.” “The PRC has increased its ability to get resources, build ports, control governments through predatory investment practices, and build space facilities that could be used for more than one thing. It has built the most space facilities in any combatant command region.”
In fact, Richardson and Gen. Glen VanHerck, who is in charge of the US Northern Command, told the House Armed Services Committee that China’s expansion has included “economic coercion” in the Bahamas and “investment” in South American projects.
VanHerck said that in the Caribbean, China is “very aggressive” in the Bahamas, where they have built the largest embassy in the world and put an ambassador in charge who “uses the information space every day to hurt us.”
He also said that the US hasn’t had a permanent ambassador to the Bahamas since 2011, and that appointing one would “help a lot.”
At the same time, Richardson said that China’s investments don’t really help the countries in the area. He said that Beijing is “taking advantage” of South American countries by putting them in a “debt trap” with the multiple loans they give.
Tensions are high between the US and China because a Chinese surveillance balloon was shot down off the coast of South Carolina last month, and there are rumors that China might help Russia in its war against Ukraine.
Claims that China is thinking about giving Russia lethal military aid have been denied by Chinese officials, but US officials have said that China would have to pay “real costs” if they went ahead with the help.
China has also denied that the balloon that fell into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the US was a spy balloon. But on Wednesday, VanHerck said that the event showed “one of the ways our competitors try to hurt us every day.”
