Caribbean Segment of China’s Belt and Road Initiative in the Context of Sino-US Relations

Abstract

The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (MSR), part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), aims to turn China into a “strong maritime power” controlling the most important sea routes. The Special Declaration, signed in January 2018 during the Second China–CELAC Ministerial Forum, refers to the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) as the MSR’s “natural extension”. By the beginning of this year, more than 20 LAC countries, including two-thirds of the Caribbean, have become “indispensable participants” in the Initiative. The article analyzes the BRI’s implementation in the Caribbean region in the context of Sino–US relations. The primary sources are government documents, papers of international organizations and forums, think tank reports, speeches by officials, media publications, etc. In the course of the study, the following results are obtained: recent scientific works on the topic are listed, the issues considered in them are highlighted; some BRI’s infrastructure projects in the Caribbean are briefly characterized; the BRI’s impact on Sino–US relations is identified; the possible ways of further development of the situation are predicted. The author comes to the conclusion that, on the one hand, China is reaping the economic and political benefits from engagement with the Caribbean countries. On the other hand, Beijing is advancing on the grand chessboard by extending the BRI to the USA’s “backyard” and “soft underbelly”. The United States perceives the Initiative as a grave threat to national security and takes retaliatory measures. This determines the relevance of further studies on the BRI’s Caribbean segment.