Jamaica’s relationship with China

As many Jamaicans celebrate the severing of connections with the British crown, and demand reparations and apologies from England for its colonial past, Jamaicans are happily giving away their sovereignty and national interests to Chinese governmental and economic powers daily. The same people, demanding an apology from the royal family and British people for all transgressions, past and present, seem to be blissfully unaware of the current threat before them. The Jamaican government has been granting contracts and leasing massive amounts of land to Chinese government interests, who are undisputedly proxies of the Chinese government. The Chinese government continues to throw bones to the Jamaican people, so it can further its economic and political goals by using Jamaica, its resources and people.

Many Jamaicans predicate their disgust over the England and the Crown, based on the transgressions of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the perceived inequality that British rule brought to Jamaica, but how do you think the Chinese will treat Jamaicans as their influence and power grow in the west? There are death camps in China where millions of Chinese ethnic minorities have been dragged into at gun point. Ethnic Uyghurs are in captivity, facing forced sterilization, torture, forced slave labor and murder. Numerous accounts of sexual abuse and rape of women have been reported in the Xinjiang “ re-education camps” — but we see no protests or demonstrations from the Jamaican public. Why is that? Does the average Jamaican really want a government like China creating infrastructure on its island?

Could it be that Jamaican academia and media are corrupt, along with the Jamaican political class, relaying little to no information to the Jamaican public on these facts? Jamaica is losing its natural resources and land — to a nation state that has proven itself hostile and violent to demographics it deems unworthy of human rights, life and liberty. Who are the organizations that promote and plan these demonstrations against England, but conveniently ignore the daily growing presence of Chinese governmental power taking over Jamaica, and controlling the nation more and more? Beautiful natural reserves have been destroyed to accommodate Chinese port facilities, and Chinese investment firms are buying up Jamaican land at a massive rate.

Land that should be in the hands of Jamaican nationals. This is not a new problem, as Canadian and US firms have taken over Jamaican resources throughout recent history, but the hypocrisy and apathy we see from the Jamaican public is what is so alarming. People are quick to celebrate the disconnection of all remaining British institutions, but sit by apathetically as the Chinese government makes power grabs across the nation. Jamaicans pose as nationalistic patriots, with this bravado and indignation pointed at England and all of its past and present institutions, and feel a need to disconnect itself with its perceived oppressive European connections. But China buying up real estate, indebting the nation, and taking over ports so that it can further economically dominate the world, and place its military in strategic points using Jamaica as a proxy? No big deal, right? This should worry Jamaicans. There are intelligent, true Jamaican nationalists worried about this, but far too few, and few willing to speak out.

Yes, the Chinese government has built massive infrastructure in Jamaica — roads, telecommunications etc. — but why? Do you think it’s because the Chinese government just loves Jamaicans, and thinks “Jamaica nice?” Yeah, that must be it, Xi Jinping just loves Bob Marley and Reggae music, and thinks Jamaica is Ire! Nobody should worry about a government that has perpetrated mass violence and the murder of university students, for demanding free speech and democracy, and destroyed the national sovereignty and rights of the Tibetan people.

I would venture to say that numerous Jamaicans have never heard of Tiananmen Square, or know anything of the horrors that the Tibetan people have faced, but maybe that’s why so much of the Jamaican public can be easily distracted with outrage and indignation directed towards Europe, but apathy towards a new regime actively taking over Jamaican society. People can attack this article and me all they like. They can scream racism, bigotry and every unfounded ad hominem all they want, but the truth is this: I am someone who believes Jamaica should be ruled by Jamaican people, and Jamaica should serve Jamaican interests first and foremost. I believe that should be the case with all nations all over the world.

England should serve the interests of British people, Ireland should serve the interests of Irish people, China should be ruled by Chinese people, and so on and so fourth, but not at the expense of others or through mass murder, or corruption. All nations should be held to this standard ideally, but the Chinese government answers to nobody. They hold the upper hand, and they have more power than ever. Jamaicans should worry.

Either way, it’s boring and predictable to see the constant poppy show of false indignation directed towards England and European heritage. Britain has been gone since 1963, and with it the majority of its people. Much of the beautiful colonial architecture lay in decay, vandalized in many cases, and Jamaican institutions are being ruled by Jamaicans, as they should be. There is no reason the infrastructure being built by the Chinese could not have been built by Jamaicans, if modern Jamaican society was

focused and prioritizing its economy and resources appropriately. But hey, if protesting England, colonialism, European heritage or the crown makes you happy, then fill your boots.

Honestly, this song and dance is old, played out, and obviously a contrived distraction engineered by oligarchs, who are playing you like a fiddle. I have had Jamaican academics tell me that all white people are guilty of slavery, and reparations should be rendered to all people of African decent, because all white people have benefited from the trans-Atlantic slave trade. I pose this question to every one of those academics and afro-centric/ Marxist ideologues, who make such statements: Will you render reparations to the victims of Chinese communist oppression? The numerous Christian communities that have suffered at the hands of communist Chinese regimes?

The Falun gong adherents who are being abused and killed? The Buddhists? The families of the students of Tiananmen Square? The ethnic Uyghurs and their families that have been brutalized by the Chinese People’s Republic government? If reparations ever come to Jamaica, and the Jamaican people wish to have moral high ground, then please send all of the money you gain to the victims of the communist oppression that Jamaica is now aiding and abetting.

The entire world should, as we are all living off the production of China’s horrific slave labor. If you are not willing to turn over your reparations to those suffering under Chinese communist oppression, then you are not on a moral crusade, you are simply a hustler playing on English white guilt... period. This article is not a statement against Chinese people or Chinese Jamaicans; it is an objective observation that should concern everyone. Frustrations should not be taken out on Jamaican Chinese people or Chinese immigrants. The facts are staring us all in the face. This article is not in support of the Queen or the current royal family as an institution or a whole but redundant demonstration directed towards an institution that has been well removed from the country for ages is not impressive or brave.

Written by David Ritter Photo taken by Gasper Haffner Website www.germantownjamaica.com facebook page https://www.facebook.com/DavidRitterfilmmaker-photographerwriter-436438457195726