Let’s take a little trip to the Bahamas and explore what a little Joe Biden-era neglect will get you.
A little over a week ago, officials from the island nation broke ground for a new speciality hospital, calling it a “new era for healthcare.” It’s supposed to take 30 to 36 months to complete.
The project will sit on 50 acres on New Providence Highway in Nassau. The hospital will have 200 beds with “emergency and intensive care services, modern diagnostic labs, and even the country’s first national reference morgue,” which will ease pressure on nearby overcrowded facilities. It will also have have access to state-of-the-art technology and equipment that Health Minister Dr. Michael Darville says “will reduce the need for patients to seek care abroad, and it will allow our healthcare professionals to operate in an environment that supports the level of care that they’re trained to deliver.”
Sounds like a good thing for the Bahamas, right?
Maybe it would be if China wasn’t footing most of the bill. Because when China foots the bill, there are always more strings attached than last year’s tangled Christmas tree lights. The reality is that it’s more of the textbook debt-trap Chicom diplomacy that plagues the Western Hemisphere, only this time it’s happening in a nation that’s closest point is literally just 50 miles from Florida. Oh, and the Biden administration apparently just handed it over on a silver platter.
The healthcare system in the Bahamas isn’t awful compared to some other similar nations, but it is no longer adequate enough for the aging population, and there is plenty of room to improve it. It’s overcrowded, people are often faced with long wait times, and it’s outdated with crumbling infrastructure and various equipment shortages. The Princess Margaret Hospital, which is currently the main facility in Nassau, was built in the 1950s. Patients often come to the United States for specific procedures, and nurses and other trained medical staff often move abroad to take better-paying jobs.
So, back to this New Providence Specialty Hospital. The framework for a deal between the Bahamas and China was signed last summer, and in January of this year the loan was locked in. But, as China does, this wasn’t just a loan.
It was a concessional loan, meaning the terms were soft: a 2% interest rate over a 20-year period, after a 5-year grace period with no interest. Often managed by the Export–Import Bank of China, these loans are handed out as an act of “goodwill” and diplomacy, but the reality is that China uses them to build its own infrastructure, exploit natural resources, and expand its geopolitical influence.
And the Bahamas had to agree to more than just cash. First, the loan and any other financing is governed by Chinese law. That means any disputes must go to Beijing, not the Bahamas and not an international court. The country is essentially welcoming Chinese law onto its own soil, which could end up having a negative effect on its sovereignty down the line.
Second, there’s a clause that says the state-owned China Railway Construction Corporation Ltd. must be the main contractor on the project. That company is currently on the United States Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)’s restricted investment list due its links to China’s military-industrial complex.
Third, there’s a 50-50 labor clause, meaning that half of the workers on the project must be Chinese.
Hellbound and Down 