China’s new diplomatic footprints

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - CHINA’S PRESIDENT Xi Jinping last week embarked on a four-nation tour of the Caribbean and Americas involving Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica, Mexico and the United States of America. The trip had more than symbolic significance. Trinidad and Tobago, with its vast oil and gas resources, is an important cooperation partner of China in the Anglophone Caribbean, and the two countries have expanded political, economic, trade and cultural cooperation over recent years. President Xi also met with the CARICOM leaders of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, The Bahamas, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Suriname and Jamaica, all of which have diplomatic ties with China.