Prime Minister Gaston Browne says Antigua and Barbuda has “an obligation to stand by the People’s Republic of China,” noting that the relationship shared by the two countries is “very important for the people of Antigua and Barbuda.”
“We know that there are times in which we are likely to get caught up in the crosshairs of the geopolitical issues affecting China and other countries,” Brown noted, adding that this will not sway his position, “because the People’s Republic of China has shown far more interest, even more than countries in this hemisphere with superior resources. They have shown greater interest in our development.”
Browne was speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony for a new Chinese Embassy and Residence in St. John’s, Antigua.
The Gaston Browne administration has made available, for a token sum of $1, five acres of Government land to the People’s Republic of China for the facility.
The government was criticized heavily for its decision to sell the land to China for $1. It was seen by many, as the government giving away the people’s patrimony.
But Browne said, in the last decade, the People’s Republic of China has made a far greater contribution than any other towards the development of Antigua and Barbuda.
“My Cabinet at the time felt that we cannot always be at the receiving end of this relationship, that it has to be a mutually beneficial relationship,” Browne said.
“We thought that it was a good gesture to make available the five acres of land as a gift to the People’s Republic of China.”
Browne said the cost of the project will be in the region of US$23 million and will become the most significant physical artifact of the Government and people of the People’s Republic of China within the Eastern Caribbean sub-region and beyond.
Browne also pointed to the possible consolidation of embassies, adding that the Antigua-based embassy would be in a position to offer diplomatic services.
“I can imagine for example, as we seen an increase in trade and the movement of people between Antigua and Barbuda, the region and the People’s Republic of China, that there may be a need to centralize the granting of visas. And this embassy here will be well positioned to provide those services, not only to Antiguans and Barbudans but to individuals within the sub-region and beyond.”
