What has this delightful small Caribbean country, one of our favourite locations in the world, done to merit sanctions being taken against it? Well, I had just told her that Antigua was one of 53 countries that voted for the pro-Chinese resolution in the United Nations Human Rights Council debate on Beijing's new national security law for Hong Kong. 27 countries backed the UK resolution criticising the new law.
I checked the list of countries published by Axios* because I was wondering whether the Chinese investment we saw on our first visit to Antigua in 2010 had bought influence. It has. The Chinese funded the Sir Vivian Richards cricket ground which was built for the 2007 World Cup. It replaced the historic Antigua Recreation Ground as the main cricket venue on the island. It was at the ARG where Brian Lara implausibly set the world record individual test score twice, with 375 in 1994 and 400 in 2004, both against England. It was also at the ARG that Sir Viv set a world record for the fewest deliveries to reach test century - 56 - in 1986. Yes, also against England. When the head groundsman saw us wandering round the outfield he gave us a guided tour, in return for a modest contribution to sponsoring his under 15s team's visit to England. Here I am pretending to be an umpire:
The new, modern stadium doesn't have the quirky feel of the ARG with its very varied separate stands but I suppose that is progress.
The new, modern stadium doesn't have the quirky feel of the ARG with its very varied separate stands but I suppose that is progress.
Yes, that is a football goal on the outfield. Cricket was still being played at the ARG in 2010, I'm not sure about now.
Antigua and Barbuda is a Commonwealth country but money talks against historical ties. On our visit in 2010 a guide pointed out the new Chinese-funded hospital, prominent on a hill above the capital Saint John's. And, tying ourselves in knots because of what counts as international aid, we failed to help them out after the devastating hurricane Irma in 2017 while China provided a US$16 million aid package, followed by a further $11 million in 2019 for affordable housing. I wrote at the time how daft it was that any hurricane aid we gave to our friends in the Caribbean didn't meet the aid criteria as those countries weren't officially poor enough** (they bloody well are now and we should help them anyway was the tone of my comment). The rules on what "counts" as international aid are set by the OECD's Development Assistance Committee. Countries with an average income per head of more than £9,400 do not qualify, even if their economy dips below that figure. Antigua and Barbuda is one of several countries which fell below that income level having previously exceeded it. To be fair we went ahead and gave £200M in hurricane relief assistance after Irma and Penny Mordaunt got the rules tweaked for the future after this particular aid nonsense.
Meanwhile we still give aid to China, whose economy is five times larger than ours. £71.6 million in 2018, a 29% increase on 2017. "The capitalists will sell us the rope with which we hang them" said Lenin. Ha, says Xi Jinping, they'll give me aid money to pay the bill. Somebody please get a grip of this, it is utterly crazy.
All the countries backing the UK resolution are regarded as "free", while the countries supporting the pro-China Cuban motion were those categorised as "not free" or "partly free" by Freedom House. Apart that is from three Caribbean countries: Dominica and Suriname as well as Antigua/Barbuda. All three and at least 40 of the other China backers have signed on to China's Belt and Road infrastructure project. Many of the African signatories are currently trying to renegotiate debt payments to China in the wake of the covid pandemic.
When we were in Antigua in 2010 Mrs H asked me why China was bunging the West Indian islands cash for cricket grounds and hospitals. I guessed it was influence - Antigua's vote at the UN counts as much as any other country's - rather than tweaking the US tail by having influence close to the American's back yard. After all, they don't need anyone other than Cuba to do that. Roll on ten years and Axios's Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian noted that "Beijing has effectively leveraged the UN Human Rights Council to endorse the very activities it was created to oppose."
Meanwhile we still give aid to China, whose economy is five times larger than ours. £71.6 million in 2018, a 29% increase on 2017. "The capitalists will sell us the rope with which we hang them" said Lenin. Ha, says Xi Jinping, they'll give me aid money to pay the bill. Somebody please get a grip of this, it is utterly crazy.
All the countries backing the UK resolution are regarded as "free", while the countries supporting the pro-China Cuban motion were those categorised as "not free" or "partly free" by Freedom House. Apart that is from three Caribbean countries: Dominica and Suriname as well as Antigua/Barbuda. All three and at least 40 of the other China backers have signed on to China's Belt and Road infrastructure project. Many of the African signatories are currently trying to renegotiate debt payments to China in the wake of the covid pandemic.
When we were in Antigua in 2010 Mrs H asked me why China was bunging the West Indian islands cash for cricket grounds and hospitals. I guessed it was influence - Antigua's vote at the UN counts as much as any other country's - rather than tweaking the US tail by having influence close to the American's back yard. After all, they don't need anyone other than Cuba to do that. Roll on ten years and Axios's Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian noted that "Beijing has effectively leveraged the UN Human Rights Council to endorse the very activities it was created to oppose."
As for Mrs H this new set of sanctions broadens those she already has in place against China. This is nothing to do with Hong Kong or China's arsey response to the Huawei decision: she has been boycotting Chinese restaurants and takeaways from before lockdown started in protest against the country's role in spreading coronavirus around the world. I have to agree this step is logical: many British of folk Chinese origin travel back to China (or at least Hong Kong) and we don't know what they get up to with bats while they are there. So of course, in solidarity (or because I don't dare do otherwise), the only sweet and sour we are having these days is home made. Is that cultural appropriation, I wonder? And how will China respond to this latest British slight?
Anyway, back to watching the cricket: Mrs H hasn't (yet) barred Antiguans from appearing on our TV, though only spinner Rahkeem Cornwall in the 3rd test side is from the island, Alzarri Joseph being the other Antiguan.
Anyway, back to watching the cricket: Mrs H hasn't (yet) barred Antiguans from appearing on our TV, though only spinner Rahkeem Cornwall in the 3rd test side is from the island, Alzarri Joseph being the other Antiguan.
* Countries that criticized or defended China's security law for Hong Kong at the UN. Axios, 3 July
** https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7630891/britain-changes-foreign-aid-rules/
** https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7630891/britain-changes-foreign-aid-rules/
Politics and cricket together, South Africa comes to mind from a far more positive perspective. But my main point is the political one. The more we refuse to aid developing counties the more they are likely to fall under the influence of rich despots seeking influence that will disadvantage the UK. It's happening all over the world. The Little Englander, dare I say Brexiteer view is that we should not be aiding foreign developing countries and that money should be spent in the UK. This approach is stupid on many counts but the one you are highlighting here is very clear and very far from being in the UK's interests. The Lib's as you know made sure that foreign aid (at 0.7 of GDP) was put in legislation as a part of the not to be mentioned in polite company Coalition government.
ReplyDeleteI agree, the international pressure on South Africa, including via sport, seemed to help, though I doubt my student boycott of Barclays was material! I support aid to countries that need it and use it properly, provided they don't then bite the hand as it were by acting totally against our interests.
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