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本帖最后由 woikuraki 于 2012-3-31 11:54 编辑
【中文标题】加勒比将成为中国登陆美国的滩头堡吗？
【原文标题】The Caribbean A Chinese beachhead? New investors on America’s doorstep
【登载媒体】经济学家
【原文链接】http://www.economist.com/node/21549971
2月25日，17000人——相当于巴哈马总人口的5％——亲眼观看了首都拿骚一座新国家体育馆落成的焰火表演仪式。巴哈马首相Hubert Ingraham说这是“巴哈马的象征和国家的骄傲”。实际上，这座体育馆是由中国出资设计并建造的，施工的工人也都来自中国。
中国的投资和援助逐渐席卷了英语母语的加勒比地区。在距离体育馆不远的地方，中国建筑国际集团有限公司部署了数百名中国工人，修建由中国进出口银行投资26亿美元的度假胜地Baha Mar。在距离佛罗里达海岸80英里的大巴哈马岛，香港和记港口集团经营着一个巨大的集装箱码头，它的姊妹公司拥有一批酒店和赌场。拥有拿骚一多半船只的挪威邮轮公司，其大股东是云顶香港有限公司。
牙买加接受了中国4亿美元的援助。在圭亚那，中国公司在开采铝土矿的同时，计划修建一座水力发电厂和一个酒店，还计划翻新机场。中国公司在帮助古巴、牙买加、委内瑞拉、圭亚那和巴西铺设纤维光缆。下个月，由中国资助1.5亿美元的儿童医院即将在特立尼达破土动工。
从商业回报角度来看，大部分投资都具有极大的风险。当地政客欢迎这些投资和援助，在经济不景气的情况下，很多讲英语的加勒比国家对此感激涕零。但当地商人在与有国家支持的中国竞争对手打交道时，感到异常郁闷。一位特立尼达承包商Emile Elias说：“中国建筑企业简直是国家发展、地方建筑业和地方劳动力的灾难，我们浪费了很多钱。”他说，很多项目都没有经过招标就给予中国公司，结果往往是超出预算、延误工期和质量低劣。
有些人发现，中国在加勒比地区的行动隐含着政治目的。十年前，这些行为或许是为了争取那些在政治上承认台湾的国家。多米尼加在2004年转投北京的怀抱，并因此得到了1.22亿美元的援助（相当于当时GDP的三分之一）。格林纳达也步其后尘。但是，中国近期的投资都是在已经承认中国国际地位的国家。
一些当地人不明白中国成套设备进出口（集团）总公司为什么要涉足牙买加成本极高、步履维艰的制糖业。维基解密透露出有关美国外交的消息猜测，中国或许把巴哈马当作一项“战略步骤”，来防范古巴卡斯特罗去世后的影响。华盛顿西半球防务研究中心的中国观察员Evan Ellis说，中国对这一地区的兴趣符合“商业逻辑”，但也表示对加勒比地区“战略价值”的认可。这些动机或许都隐藏在中国的援助行动之后。中国的援助还包括少量的对警察和武装力量的支持，牙买加警长分别在北京和美国深造过。
目前我们还无法确定加勒比地区是否会成为中国人登陆美国的滩头堡——就像台湾之于中国大陆。尽管很多岛屿上都出现了小规模的中国社区，但加勒比国家依然向北看齐。中国不断允诺给当地带来大量游客，但目前还没有实现的迹象。Baha Mar度假村将由凯悦和其它美国公司管理。
原文：
A CROWD of 17,000, almost 5% of the population of the Bahamas, turned up to watch the firework display when a new national stadium opened in Nassau, the capital, on February 25th. A celebration of “our Bahamian identity and nationhood”, said the prime minister, Hubert Ingraham. In fact the stadium was designed and paid for by China, and built mainly by migrant Chinese labourers.
China’s investment and aid looms increasingly large in the English-speaking Caribbean. Not far from the stadium, China State Construction is deploying hundreds of Chinese workers at Baha Mar, a $2.6 billion resort financed by the Export-Import Bank of China. On Grand Bahama, 80 miles off Florida, Hong Kong’s Hutchison Port Holdings runs a giant container port; a sister company owns a clutch of hotels and casinos. Norwegian Cruise Line, whose ships tower over Nassau, is half-owned by Genting Hong Kong.
Jamaica is benefiting from $400m in Chinese aid. In Guyana Chinese companies mine bauxite and want to build a hydroelectric plant and a hotel and to modernise the main airport. Chinese firms are helping to lay fibre-optic cables linking Cuba, Jamaica and Venezuela, as well as Guyana and Brazil. Work is due to start next month on a $150m Chinese-funded children’s hospital in Trinidad.
Most of these investments are business ventures on commercial terms. They are welcomed by local politicians, as is the aid. Many English-speaking Caribbean countries are heavily indebted, and their economies are stagnant. But local businesses fret over competition from state-funded Chinese rivals. “Chinese construction has been a disaster for national development, for the local construction sector and for local labour, and no money has been saved,” says Emile Elias, a Trinidadian contractor. Many projects, he claims, have been awarded with no public tender and end up over-budget, late or poorly built.
Some see a political agenda in China’s involvement in the Caribbean. A decade ago this involved wooing islands which recognised Taiwan. Dominica switched to Beijing in 2004 in return for grants of $122m (a third of its GDP at the time). Grenada has done the same. But most of the recent investment has been in countries that already recognised China.
Some locals wonder why Complant, a Chinese company, has bought into Jamaica’s high-cost, struggling sugar industry. American diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks speculate that China may be investing in the Bahamas as a “strategic move” in preparation for the demise of the Castros in Cuba. China’s interest in the region has good “business logic” but also reflects a recognition of the “strategic value” of the Caribbean, says Evan Ellis, a China-watcher at the Centre for Hemispheric Defence Studies in Washington. That motive may lie behind China’s aid programme in the area, which includes small amounts of money for the police and armed forces. Jamaica’s police chief has studied in Beijing as well as the United States.
Yet it is hard to see the Caribbean becoming a Chinese beachhead on America’s doorstep—a mirror image of Taiwan. Despite the presence of small ethnic Chinese communities in many islands, the Caribbean continues to look north. China keeps promising a stream of tourists, but few come. Baha Mar will be managed by Hyatt and other American companies.
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狗仔卡
发表于 2012-3-21 09:18
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发表于 2012-3-21 09:36
