If America Wants China Out Of Jamaica, “put Up, Or Shut Up”, Show Me The Money…

Trump’s man in Jamaica Ambassador Donald Tapia has tak­en the same tack as Southern Command head, Admiral Craig Faller, in talk­ing down to Jamaica about the dan­ger China pos­es as a result of Sino-Jamaica rela­tions.
Make no mis­take about it, every word and every con­cern com­ing out of Washington DC’s mouth­pieces are true, just not wel­come from them.
The prob­lem is the gall and temer­i­ty of Washington DC to want to dic­tate terms to Jamaica as to who her friends should be as well as how she should con­duct her affairs.
Can you imag­ine the Jamaican ambas­sador in the United States telling the American Government how to con­duct for­eign affairs?
I am still try­ing to under­stand the ratio­nale for America’s unwant­ed pater­nal­is­tic propen­si­ties.
In response to Admiral Faller’s state­ments while in Jamaica we wrote yes­ter­day, that as a guest in Jamaica the Admiral was out of order and way ahead on his skis to be lec­tur­ing Jamaica about her rela­tion­ships.
Sure China is a two-head­ed snake, but as a coun­try, Jamaica has to make deci­sions in her inter­ests and the choic­es are not always between good and bad. Those choic­es are some­times choos­ing one of two evils.

China Accomplishes More With Loans Than Others Do At The Point Of A Gun…

In a more com­pre­hen­sive lec­ture than that of Fallers, yet in a mode as dis­joint­ed as his boss’s infan­tile style, Tapia went on a tear: “China is a drag­on with two heads. If China came to Jamaica pre­sum­ably with no strings attached, then why did you nego­ti­ate 1,200 acres of the most prime real estate with them? Because they need a return on their invest­ment,” Tapia told the local Gleaner pub­li­ca­tion.
Those are facts, but they are of no con­cern to either Tapia or the United States.

Tapia; “There is no way that you will be able to fund that high­way in 50 years. The nego­ti­a­tion was 1,200 of the most beau­ti­ful acres on the water that you gave to China, and they said they would devel­op it.” 
Again true, true, true, but the United States has always had the oppor­tu­ni­ty to assist Jamaica in a mean­ing­ful way which would remove her from pover­ty.
Jamaica with a first-world infra­struc­ture is in America’s strate­gic inter­est as she will be bet­ter able to retain its peo­ple and devel­op her econ­o­my.
America nev­er cared too much about Black peo­ple, so a devel­oped Jamaica would mean few­er Jamaicans seek­ing to enter the United States.
The United States has act­ed against Jamaica’s fidu­cia­ry inter­est in the past.
The harm done to Jamaica in the ’70s, was the price the coun­try paid for eschew­ing socialism/​communism. Some argue it was a great vic­to­ry against those forces, oth­ers say it was a pyrrhic victory.

Tapia denounced as unfair the Jamaican Government’s con­ces­sions to China Harbour Engineering Company – and oth­er con­struc­tion firms aligned to Beijing that engage in major infra­struc­ture projects.
This too is true but last time I looked Jamaica did not belong to America, nei­ther is she answer­able to the United States for her deci­sion mak­ing, no more than the United States is answer­able to her.
Again the US had it’s chance if it cared about Jamaica to help her with her devel­op­ment. Instead, Jamaicans are deport­ed from the US with alarm­ing fre­quen­cy and reg­u­lar­i­ty for the most minor infrac­tions.
Jamaica is awash in illic­it American guns, that are killing inno­cent cit­i­zens at an alarm­ing rate each year.
Extradition and depor­ta­tions are the char­ac­ter­is­tics that seem to define the American-Jamaican expe­ri­ence today.
Not mutu­al respect and devel­op­ment which should favor the two nations.

Said, Tapia: “When they (China) go into a coun­try, they go after two things – the min­er­als and the ports. I could tell you hor­ror sto­ries of coun­tries where they have tak­en over the ports because those coun­tries could not pay for their invest­ment; China usu­al­ly has a great pro­pa­gan­da sto­ry as to why it has hap­pened.”
“When America invests in the ener­gy and edu­ca­tion sec­tors, we are build­ing a long-last­ing effect and will con­tribute to sta­bil­i­ty and help to stem the brain drain. Those who talk about free speech, free enter­prise and human rights are for­get­ting that those three things go togeth­er with Jamaicans, who are free­dom-lov­ing peo­ple, and one day, the chick­ens will come home to roost. So, take all you can from them, but remem­ber that the West is stand­ing there with you.”

We have sure­ly seen what it looks like when America stands with Jamaica, and though the rela­tion­ship between the two nations is crit­i­cal, it sure­ly has­n’t been a rela­tion­ship based on mutu­al respect.
According to https://​trav​el​.state​.gov/ as of the fis­cal year 2018, the United States Embassy in Kingston’s refusal rate for grant­i­ng (B)visitor visas to Jamaicans was 54. 46%, as opposed to 5.1% for the Apartheid state of Israel.
The only coun­tries with high­er refusal rates are African nations like Liberia, with 64.36%, Libya with 73.73%, and some Asain nations like North Korea, Laos and oth­ers.
It is sure­ly the pre­rog­a­tive of the United States, how it han­dles its busi­ness, includ­ing who is allowed in as against who it keeps out. Jamaica’s geo­graph­i­cal prox­im­i­ty sure­ly has­n’t helped in her rela­tion­ship with her pow­er­ful neigh­bor to the north.
Jamaica’s rela­tion­ship with the United States is pure­ly strate­gic as it relates to America’s inter­est in stop­ping the drugs enter­ing her ports and main­tain­ing Jamaica as a syco­phan­tic under­ling who will ensure none of America’s adver­saries gains her affections.

(Former Jamaican ambas­sador and deputy per­ma­nent rep­re­sen­ta­tive to the United Nations, told The Gleaner yes­ter­day that America had telegraphed its dis­plea­sure with Sino-Jamaican pacts since the vis­it by then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in February 2018. “We shouldn’t be sur­prised. It has been going on for two years. Since that time, clear­ly, Jamaica has not paid atten­tion to what the US has said, but has forged ahead with its devel­op­ments.” 
“Washington should state whether it would fill the vac­u­um if Jamaica were to pull back from China”, Said Ward.
That’s it in a nut­shell, put up or shut up.

Mike Beckles is a for­mer Jamaican police Detective cor­po­ral, a busi­ness own­er, avid researcher, and blog­ger. 
He is a black achiev­er hon­oree, and pub­lish­er of the blog chatt​-​a​-box​.com. 
He’s also a con­trib­u­tor to sev­er­al web­sites.
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