Chinese Embassy in The Bahamas refutes US fallacy attacking China-Bahamas co-op
The Chinese Embassy in The Bahamas refuted the fallacy of the US Embassy in The Bahamas which maliciously attacked China for providing a concessional loan to The Bahamas to build a new hospital in Nassau, The Bahamas' capital, urging the US to abandon its outdated Cold War mentality and zero-sum game approach and to take an open and inclusive attitude towards cooperation between China and The Bahamas, rather than adopting a "won't-do-themselves-and-won't-let-others-do" approach.
Chinese Ambassador to The Bahamas Yan Jiarong and the Minister of Health and Wellness of The Bahamas Michael Darville sign the Government Framework Agreement for the Nassau Hospital Concessional Loan Project on July 11. The US Embassy in the Bahamas subsequently issued a statement maliciously attacking the project, undermining China-Bahamas cooperation and spreading the debt trap theory regarding China, said the Chinese embassy.
The US Chargé d'Affaires Kim Furnish claimed that "Chinese investments in the Caribbean typically benefit elites, not the people, leaving countries with shoddy or incomplete projects and unsustainable debt to China, jeopardizing their development and sovereignty," Caribbean National Weekly reported.
According to the statement released by The Chinese Embassy in The Bahamas on its official WeChat account on Thursday, the US' relevant remarks are false, absurd and laughable.
"In fact, once the following questions are clarified, the fallacies will collapse on their own: First, does the hospital really primarily serve elite individuals? Do the common people of The Bahamas benefit from it? Second, has the US proposed a loan plan for the Nassau hospital project? Are the loan conditions from other countries as favorable as those from China? Third, is China the main source of debt burden for the Bahamas and other countries in the Global South?" read the statement.
The Chinese embassy said that it was at the request of the Bahamian government and after friendly consultations and the fulfillment of both sides' legal procedures that China decided to provide preferential loans to assist The Bahamas in building the hospital in Nassau, emphasizing that the project respects the wishes of the Bahamian side, aligns with its needs, and will promote its development.
The embassy said the Chinese loans account for a very small proportion of The Bahamas' overall debt and come without any political conditions attached.
"China-Bahamas cooperation is free from geopolitical calculations, does not seek spheres of influence, does not attach political conditions and does not coerce other countries to take sides. It is not aimed at third parties, nor should it be interfered with by third parties," said the statement.
It noted that The Bahamas, the Caribbean and Latin American countries are not the "backyard" of any country, calling the US to take an open and inclusive attitude toward China's cooperation with Latin American and Caribbean nations.