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6th Summit of the Americas — US, China, Jamaica investment
ANTHONY HILL
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
THE New York Times on April 8 published an item, “China Buys Inroads in the Caribbean, Catching US Notice”. Jamaica is referenced and one of its journalists credited.
• The following morning CNN aired a panel discussion on the same item.
PRESIDENT SANTOS... summit host
PRESIDENT SANTOS... summit host
• The next day Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff's state visit to Washington was cordially businesslike. The muted reception anticipated by the Financial Times, “Ms Rousseff's recent visit to Cuba will also not have endeared her to Mr Obama”, did not appear to have affected their constructive conversations of common interest.
• A few days later, the 6th Summit of the Americas is being held in Colombia, a Caribbean State, albeit in South America. The theme “Connecting the Americas: Partners for Prosperity”. The host, President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia, is expecting the Americas “to reach out to the rest of the world with one voice”.
• A few weeks earlier private citizens found guilty of running billion-dollar illegal financial and other enterprises from small Caribbean territories await sentencing.
• The regulator of the international monetary system, the IMF has come alive again and waits somewhat impatiently for much quicker action on the conditionalities that must be accepted if cash and credit are to be released, including to Jamaica.
Is there a thread connecting these “dots”?
Approaching its 50th year of formal independent foreign policy execution, Jamaica has played its dominoes well – principled, prudent and selfconfident in its national interest. The innate pride and sensibilities of its citizenry, which empowers its political representatives acting on their behalf, is a very large part.
It is widely recognised that Jamaica’s foreign policy, both principle and practice, has frayed in recent years, reflecting the country's generally deteriorating governance and economy.
A country's foreign policy is only as sound as its market economy is robust and its governance principled and competent. If its leadership prides itself as “small and vulnerable”, the country falls prey to open pressure, including through the media, local and foreign. If its private sectors are myopic, mismanaged and avoid their responsibilities, the country's wealth is destroyed or siphoned off.
This will be the first Summit of the Americas' outing for an already well-seasoned Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller as head of Jamaica's delegation.
Let’s anticipate the next dot at the intersection of domestic and foreign policy and trace it back to the not so subtle media “noise” regarding China and its investments in the Caribbean.
The government of the People’s Republic of China, its state and private companies are clearly awash with surplus US dollars. By far the largest percentage is held in lowinterest deposits in the United States. The balance is invested across the developed and developing world.
China's brand of capitalism even with its “socialist characteristics” is merely reflective of the worldwide practice of searching out markets. China is competing neither with the US nor with Europe. It is playing on the field almost entirely by itself, with its capital investments in the infrastructures of transportation, tourism, energy, sport and education.
The Caribbean is just another of the many destinations. But Jamaica exhibits some quite distinctive characteristics, and markedly so at a time when they were not fashionable.
• Jamaica has had diplomatic relations at the highest levels with the PRC since the 1970s and an economic cooperation agreement since the beginning of the 1990s. The relationship is neither Johnnycome-lately, nor subject to financial inducements.
• Jamaica has been an active participant in the several groupings of developing countries and China and the Non-Aligned Movement.
• Jamaica has been and continues to be a proponent of significant changes to the international economic systems. It was in Kingston in turbulent January 1976 that the IMF ratified one of its most fundamental Articles, ushering in the surveillance of national economies and stable but adjustable exchange rates; the international monetary system was updated and improved, but alas, with increased power over “poor countries”.
• Jamaica's early and prescient recognition of the growing interdependence and changing weights among economic powers led to the simultaneous deepening of its traditional relationships with North America and Europe while opening up constructive, friendly and mutually beneficial relations with emerging economies, including Russia, China, India, Brazil, Nigeria, South Africa, Malaysia, Venezuela, among others; at independence, our relations with Cuba were maintained even through its
ups and downs.
• Jamaica has chaired the UN Security Council and constructively engaged on issues of international peace and security regarding events in the Middle East.
The article quotes a small island former diplomat to the effect that the US is making itself “irrelevant” and leaving its “flank exposed”. The comments are facile and define much of the under-researched and “dotty” article pretending to be news.
No, decidedly not so. The US neither can be made “irrelevant”, nor is any country considering something as naïve and counter-productive as that. And it certainly could not be done by the still modest Chinese infrastructure investments needed to develop Caribbean economies.
China and Jamaica share a common interest in this regard.
Why ever then should Jamaica not have excellent state-to-state relations with all five veto-wielding members on the Security Council of the United Nations, while pressing for democratic reform?
What good reason would prevent Jamaica from availing itself of China's long-term concessional financing and foreign direct investment with proven technology and on-time execution for its development?
The more open trade and investment, the better for international comity.
Looking 90 miles offshore to Haiti and its stalled recovery and seeing the New York Times pictorial of the remarkable rebuilding of the earthquakeravaged Sichuan province in China, with its once 10 million homeless, the wonder is, what would China have done for the Haitians to lift them from their continuing desperate conditions?
Europe, North America and China are not suitors to be played off one against the other. They are partners, each valued and valuable. Mature partners avoid overbearing postures, childish prattle and needless worry.
After all, Jamaicans are as much in and of the “West”, of culture, law and institutions. Jamaica's citizens are of China, as of Europe and the Americas in a population of majority African heritage. What have Jamaicans to fear?
At the 6th Summit of the Americas, let there be one voice for international comity within the region as across continents.
Anthony Hill is a former permanent secretary and ambassador (retired).
kgahill@hotmail.com
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz1rjhMC9nb
ANTHONY HILL
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
THE New York Times on April 8 published an item, “China Buys Inroads in the Caribbean, Catching US Notice”. Jamaica is referenced and one of its journalists credited.
• The following morning CNN aired a panel discussion on the same item.
PRESIDENT SANTOS... summit host
PRESIDENT SANTOS... summit host
• The next day Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff's state visit to Washington was cordially businesslike. The muted reception anticipated by the Financial Times, “Ms Rousseff's recent visit to Cuba will also not have endeared her to Mr Obama”, did not appear to have affected their constructive conversations of common interest.
• A few days later, the 6th Summit of the Americas is being held in Colombia, a Caribbean State, albeit in South America. The theme “Connecting the Americas: Partners for Prosperity”. The host, President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia, is expecting the Americas “to reach out to the rest of the world with one voice”.
• A few weeks earlier private citizens found guilty of running billion-dollar illegal financial and other enterprises from small Caribbean territories await sentencing.
• The regulator of the international monetary system, the IMF has come alive again and waits somewhat impatiently for much quicker action on the conditionalities that must be accepted if cash and credit are to be released, including to Jamaica.
Is there a thread connecting these “dots”?
Approaching its 50th year of formal independent foreign policy execution, Jamaica has played its dominoes well – principled, prudent and selfconfident in its national interest. The innate pride and sensibilities of its citizenry, which empowers its political representatives acting on their behalf, is a very large part.
It is widely recognised that Jamaica’s foreign policy, both principle and practice, has frayed in recent years, reflecting the country's generally deteriorating governance and economy.
A country's foreign policy is only as sound as its market economy is robust and its governance principled and competent. If its leadership prides itself as “small and vulnerable”, the country falls prey to open pressure, including through the media, local and foreign. If its private sectors are myopic, mismanaged and avoid their responsibilities, the country's wealth is destroyed or siphoned off.
This will be the first Summit of the Americas' outing for an already well-seasoned Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller as head of Jamaica's delegation.
Let’s anticipate the next dot at the intersection of domestic and foreign policy and trace it back to the not so subtle media “noise” regarding China and its investments in the Caribbean.
The government of the People’s Republic of China, its state and private companies are clearly awash with surplus US dollars. By far the largest percentage is held in lowinterest deposits in the United States. The balance is invested across the developed and developing world.
China's brand of capitalism even with its “socialist characteristics” is merely reflective of the worldwide practice of searching out markets. China is competing neither with the US nor with Europe. It is playing on the field almost entirely by itself, with its capital investments in the infrastructures of transportation, tourism, energy, sport and education.
The Caribbean is just another of the many destinations. But Jamaica exhibits some quite distinctive characteristics, and markedly so at a time when they were not fashionable.
• Jamaica has had diplomatic relations at the highest levels with the PRC since the 1970s and an economic cooperation agreement since the beginning of the 1990s. The relationship is neither Johnnycome-lately, nor subject to financial inducements.
• Jamaica has been an active participant in the several groupings of developing countries and China and the Non-Aligned Movement.
• Jamaica has been and continues to be a proponent of significant changes to the international economic systems. It was in Kingston in turbulent January 1976 that the IMF ratified one of its most fundamental Articles, ushering in the surveillance of national economies and stable but adjustable exchange rates; the international monetary system was updated and improved, but alas, with increased power over “poor countries”.
• Jamaica's early and prescient recognition of the growing interdependence and changing weights among economic powers led to the simultaneous deepening of its traditional relationships with North America and Europe while opening up constructive, friendly and mutually beneficial relations with emerging economies, including Russia, China, India, Brazil, Nigeria, South Africa, Malaysia, Venezuela, among others; at independence, our relations with Cuba were maintained even through its
ups and downs.
• Jamaica has chaired the UN Security Council and constructively engaged on issues of international peace and security regarding events in the Middle East.
The article quotes a small island former diplomat to the effect that the US is making itself “irrelevant” and leaving its “flank exposed”. The comments are facile and define much of the under-researched and “dotty” article pretending to be news.
No, decidedly not so. The US neither can be made “irrelevant”, nor is any country considering something as naïve and counter-productive as that. And it certainly could not be done by the still modest Chinese infrastructure investments needed to develop Caribbean economies.
China and Jamaica share a common interest in this regard.
Why ever then should Jamaica not have excellent state-to-state relations with all five veto-wielding members on the Security Council of the United Nations, while pressing for democratic reform?
What good reason would prevent Jamaica from availing itself of China's long-term concessional financing and foreign direct investment with proven technology and on-time execution for its development?
The more open trade and investment, the better for international comity.
Looking 90 miles offshore to Haiti and its stalled recovery and seeing the New York Times pictorial of the remarkable rebuilding of the earthquakeravaged Sichuan province in China, with its once 10 million homeless, the wonder is, what would China have done for the Haitians to lift them from their continuing desperate conditions?
Europe, North America and China are not suitors to be played off one against the other. They are partners, each valued and valuable. Mature partners avoid overbearing postures, childish prattle and needless worry.
After all, Jamaicans are as much in and of the “West”, of culture, law and institutions. Jamaica's citizens are of China, as of Europe and the Americas in a population of majority African heritage. What have Jamaicans to fear?
At the 6th Summit of the Americas, let there be one voice for international comity within the region as across continents.
Anthony Hill is a former permanent secretary and ambassador (retired).
kgahill@hotmail.com
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz1rjhMC9nb
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