China's presence in American backyards could allow communist countries to access Florida's coast, coinciding with a dramatic increase in Chinese border encounters.
The Caribbean, also known as the “American Third Border” due to its proximity to the United States, has been financially supported by China in recent years with maritime logistics and infrastructure projects.
“I think Chinese people are trying to gain influence in areas very close to their American homeland,” Gordon G. Chang, author and expert on US-China relations, told Fox News Digital.
Chang pointed to the $3.4 billion Freeport Container Port project in the Bahamas, 87 miles east of Palm Beach, Florida.
Report from The House Foreign Affairs Committee found that China invested more than $10 billion in six Caribbean countries between 2005 and 2022.
Panama Canal and China's influence
During his inauguration speech, President Trump reiterated his desire to regain control of the Panama Canal, an important strategic waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
“More than anything, China runs the Panama Canal. And we didn't give it to China. We handed it to Panama and we'll get it back,” Trump said. said in his first speech.
The United States managed it from its completion in 1914 until it was handed over to Panama in 1977 in 1999. Torrijos-Carter Treaty.
The treaty allows the US military to preserve canal neutrality and allows the US to use the waterway forever.
Chinese companies have invested heavily in ports and terminals near the canal. The Hong Kong-based company operates two of the five ports near the entrance.
“China did not take over the canal zone with the soldiers, so it's going to take time. They took over it with people dressed in business with large check books and cash suitcases. ” he said. “And the US needs to bring its own cash to drive China out of the canal zone and Panama.”
For decades, the US had turned its eye on the Western Hemisphere when it came to national security, Chan said.
But the Trump administration tried to change that in the first few weeks of his inauguration.
As evidence, Chang pointed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio's first trip to Panama as America's top diplomat.
“I think that shows that at least initially, President Trump's foreign policy focuses on North and South America,” he said. “It's been more than a century that the US president has given the focus of his main principles to a country closest to the US.”
An influx of Chinese immigrants
The increased Chinese influence in the West is correlated with an increase in the number of Chinese immigrants arrested at both the northern and southern borders.
The number of Chinese citizens has increased significantly since 2021.
We met 1,970 times in 2022, with over 24,000 people in 2023 and 24,376 people in the first half of 2024. May 2024 Report by the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee on Surveillance, Investigation and Accountability.
Chang has seen an influx of family groups that first flee from China to the US; Currently, two-thirds of Chinese immigrants coming to the US are single men of military age who claim to travel alone and do not speak English.
“Border Patrol has noticed that in some of these packs, he's come across packs between four and fifteen. “It's an ominous sign.”
Fox News Digital has contacted the US State Department for comment.
