Florida is the gateway to the Caribbean and Latin America.
The Sunshine State is also an opportunity to enter the United States.
And a China expert sounded the alarm on this horrible threat Florida is facing.
China is expanding its influence in the Caribbean
A wealthy suburb of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, was the site of two busts by police of box trucks filled with illegal aliens from China over the span of two weeks earlier this year.
The Chinese illegal aliens arrived in Florida via boat after they were smuggled in from the Bahamas.
China expert Gordan Chang warned the incidents could be tied to the growing influence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the Caribbean.
The CCP has been financing maritime and infrastructure projects in the region as a means of building influence.
Chang noted that China spent $3.4 billion building a port in Freeport, The Bahamas which is less than 90 miles from Palm Beach, Florida.
“I think the Chinese are trying to gain influence in a region which is very close to the American homeland,” Chang told Fox News.
A House Foreign Affairs Committee reported that China spent over $10 billion in six Caribbean nations since 2005 on infrastructure projects.
The number of illegal aliens entering the country from China has surged after former President Joe Biden took office in 2021.
A House Homeland Security Committee report found that Chinese encountered at the border jumped from 1,970 in 2021 to more than 24,000 during the first half of Fiscal Year 2024.
Chang pointed out that most of the Chinese illegal aliens were military-age males traveling alone.
“Border Patrol has noticed that in some of these packs, they’re coming across in packs between 4 and 15, that everybody in the pack has an identical kit,” Chang stated. “That is an ominous sign.”
The Trump administration takes Chinese incursions into the Western Hemisphere seriously
President Donald Trump called out the influence the Chinese have over the Panama Canal.
Chinese companies run ports at either end of the canal.
“This is going to take some time because China didn’t take over the Canal Zone with soldiers, they took it over with people in business attire with large checkbooks and suitcases of cash,” Chang explained. “And the United States needs to come in with cash of its own to drive the Chinese out of the Canal Zone and Panama.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio made his first trip after taking office to meet with Panama’s government.
“I think that that shows that President Trump’s foreign policy, at least initially, will be focused on North and South America,” Chang stated. “This is the first time in more than a century that an American president has given his primary principle focus to countries closest to the United States.”
Panama withdrew from China’s Belt and Road infrastructure project after meeting with Rubio.
China is trying to use its soft power to build influence in the Caribbean and Latin America.
The Trump administration is pushing back on the Chinese machinations in the Western Hemisphere.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
