> While the U.S. Labels the Caribbean
> 'Shithole' Countries, China Invests
> Without Insult

While the United States has long positioned itself as the dominant force in the Western Hemisphere, its approach toward the Caribbean has often been dismissive, condescending, and laced with neocolonial undertones. The infamous characterization of Caribbean nations as "shithole countries" by a former American president was not merely a diplomatic blunder—it reflected a deeper and more enduring perception rooted in exploitation, paternalism, and contempt. This insult, though widely condemned, was never truly disavowed by the broader U.S. political establishment. Instead, Washington’s Caribbean agenda continues to be shaped not by development cooperation or mutual respect, but by narrow preoccupations with drug interdiction, immigration enforcement, and regional containment.

Contrast this with the approach of the People's Republic of China, which—though often critiqued by Western commentators—has invested substantially in Caribbean infrastructure, trade, education, and public health systems, without attaching ideological conditions or resorting to degrading language. Chinese engagement has included the development of ports, roads, medical facilities, telecommunications, and energy infrastructure across multiple island nations. These investments are not merely symbolic—they represent a long-term strategic commitment to mutual economic benefit and sovereign partnership. China has not attempted to lecture the region on governance while simultaneously undermining its economic independence. Nor has it backed foreign-led coups, imposed sanctions, or dictated terms of political obedience.

The disparity is clear: while Washington sees the region through the lens of surveillance, security, and suspicion, Beijing sees it as a partner for commerce and connectivity. The United States sends Coast Guard ships; China sends engineers, funding, and construction expertise. The U.S. government warns of so-called “malign influence”; the Chinese government builds tangible infrastructure and offers concessional financing. The U.S. urges transparency from the sidelines; China sits at the table, putting real capital to work.

It is disingenuous for the U.S. to condemn Chinese influence in the region when it has, for decades, abdicated its own responsibility to foster prosperity in its own neigh. If Caribbean nations have welcomed Chinese investment, it is not because they are unaware of geopolitical risks—it is because, in the vacuum left by U.S. neglect and arrogance, China has shown up with resources and respect.

If the United States wishes to remain relevant in the Caribbean, it must abandon the old playbook of insults, interference, and indifference. Respect cannot be demanded—it must be earned. And influence must be based not on coercion, but on cooperation. The Caribbean does not belong to anyone’s sphere of control. It is not a pawn in great power competition. It is a region of sovereign nations, rich in culture, human capital, and potential—deserving not of derision, but of partnership grounded in dignity.

Until Washington internalizes that truth, it will continue to lose both the trust and the future of the Caribbean.

Dream on IslandWarrior...........you'll be working for Communist China before long. Recognize this - the US doesn't need you, but you need them.

Jetflt, your post reads less like an informed argument and more like a script pulled straight from Cold War propaganda. Let’s begin with your first fallacy: “The U.S. doesn’t need you, but you need them.” That’s the classic language of an empire that mistakes transactional relationships for unconditional loyalty. The Bahamas is not a dependent ward of the United States—it is a sovereign nation that engages in bilateral trade, not charity. We import over $4 billion in goods annually, paid for—not gifted—from American suppliers. That isn’t need; that’s commerce. And unlike some, we’re not confused about the difference.

As for your recycled paranoia about China: no one here is under the delusion that the CCP is motivated by love and rainbows. The Chinese state, like every other powerful country, including the United States, acts out of strategic interest. That’s the nature of geopolitics. But here’s the distinction: China shows up with capital, infrastructure, and mutual economic benefit, while Washington shows up with lectures, sanctions, and armed patrols under the guise of drug interdiction and migration control.

Let’s talk about espionage. You're worried about "spies" in the Chinese embassy? Do you think U.S. embassies are sanctuaries of moral purity? The CIA operates globally, including throughout the Caribbean—covert and overt. Spare us the indignation. Intelligence operations are the currency of all major powers. If you’re concerned about spying, don’t pretend it's one-sided. It’s not that the Chinese are saints—it’s that America isn’t either.

Your attempt to insult Bahamians by suggesting we’re gullible enough to believe in some utopian friendship with China is not only patronizing, it’s historically blind. We’re not romanticizing China—we’re recognizing an evolving global order. We’re leveraging alternative partnerships in a world no longer monopolized by one power. That’s called strategic diversification, not treason.

And while you bring up swamp land, allow me to remind you of something real: it wasn’t the Chinese who called us “shithole countries.” It wasn’t the Chinese who backed coups, destabilized regional democracies, or used the Caribbean as a geopolitical pawn. That’s history—and it's American, not Chinese.

So dream on, Jetflt. Dream on if you believe that the era of unchallenged American dominance will go unexamined. Dream on if you think Caribbean nations will forever bow at the altar of U.S. hegemony. We are awake. And we’re not asking permission.

If you believe the CCP is investing in the Bahamas because it has a love for the country and its people, I have some swamp land in Louisiana I'll sell you for a deal you'd never pass up. And if you think the Chinese embassy in Nassau isn't filled with spies spying and attempting to infiltrate U.S. intelligence, then you and the rest of the Bahamas that look at the CCP as investing in the Bahamas because they have a love for Bahamians, you'd better wake up. This is about the CCP dominating the world.

Where is the article about the $400m Met Office? I swear the PLP control the Tribune. We should be able to comment on that story. WHY? Most days we can look outside and see the weather. When a hurricane is travelling, we turn to The Weather Channel like everyone else. What is our $400m Met. office going to tell us when we won't have Power or Cable? 100% Corruption and politicians stealing our money to but the next Elections. Why do we have so many Haitians applying for Citizenship every damn day? So they can vote for the corrupt PLP!
Minnis better shut up and stop his selfish shit. He will split the votes in Killarny and the PLP will win that seat. WE NEED TO GET RID OF THE CORRUPT PLP, THE COUNTRY IS GOING TO THE DOGS.

The Bahamas has prostituted itself to the two Beasts ........ It is in a lose/lose situation right now.

You cannot serve two masters ...... Jesus

LMAO. IslandWarrior is clearly running for an associate membership in the politburo in Beijing. His station posting at the Chinese Embassy in The Bahamas must not pay enough.

Biting the hand of our neighbour to the north that feeds our people in so many ways is never a wise thing to do as slimy Fwreddy Boy is now learning the hard way.

And IslandWarrior you had better be a yellow man because the politburo is not open to any kind of membership by persons of any other colour.

The Bahamas Owes No Apology for Choosing Respect Over Obedience

Let me be unequivocal: the days of grovelling before any foreign power—north or east—are over. Mockery, racial slurs, and cynical jabs cannot erase the hard truth: the United States has treated the Caribbean not as a partner, but as a project to be managed, lectured, or ignored.

To ExposedU2C, who snidely accused of campaigning for a slot in the Chinese Politburo—you're 25 years too late. And more importantly, your rhetoric is not just desperate—it is offensive. Reducing a legitimate conversation about regional development and global partnerships to racist insinuations is precisely the kind of colonial-minded ignorance that has kept the Caribbean shackled to foreign dominance for generations. Or perhaps, more accurately, it's the Willie Lynch prescription—“control the slave for at least 300 years”—still echoing loudly in your worldview.

You claim we are "biting the hand that feeds us"? Let me correct that illusion. The Bahamas imports over $4 billion in goods annually, the overwhelming majority from the United States. That is not charity. That is not aid. That is commerce—pure and simple. American corporations are paid in full for the food, fuel, medical supplies, machinery, and consumer goods we bring in. There is no free lunch. We are customers, not beggars. If U.S. policymakers confuse profit with generosity, they are badly mistaken—and dangerously entitled.

If the United States believes that transactional trade entitles it to political obedience, policy alignment, or regional dominance, then it has learned absolutely nothing from the legacy of its own foreign policy. China, for all the scaremongering and propaganda, has invested in real physical infrastructure across the region—ports, bridges, hospitals, housing, and telecommunications—without demanding we dismantle our sovereignty or mimic its ideology. China has not dictated our foreign policy, nor required submission to its worldview. It arrived with capital, construction crews, and respect—not condescension, not moral lectures, and not veiled threats.

Choosing strategic partnerships outside Washington’s grip is not betrayal. It is sovereignty in action. And if that reality threatens your worldview, the problem is not with us—it is with the brittle arrogance of those who still view the Caribbean as a plantation, a subordinate, or a zone of containment.

The Bahamas will not apologize for seeking partners who treat us with dignity. Nor will we be shamed for choosing respect over subservience. Racial insults, imperial posturing, and nationalist tantrums will not dictate our destiny. Those who cannot stomach the sight of the Caribbean rising on its own terms would do well to step aside.

Referenced historical context: The "Willie Lynch Letter" and its enduring psychological implications

The Bahamas is better off dealing with Canada, Mexico & the Caribbean right now.

The US & China are in an epic crocodile & hippo death roll struggle right now.

We don't want to muddy those waters anymore 😔