China’s growing presence in America’s backyard could grant the communist country access to Florida’s coast, coinciding with a dramatic rise in Chinese national border encounters.
The Caribbean region, also known as “America’s third border” due to its proximity to the U.S., has been financially backed by China in maritime logistics and infrastructure projects in recent years.
“I think the Chinese are trying to gain influence in a region which is very close to the American homeland,” Gordon G. Chang, an author and expert on U.S.-China relations told Fox News Digital.
Chang pointed to the $3.4-billion Freeport Container port project in the Bahamas, just 87 miles east of Palm Beach, Florida.
A report from the House Foreign Affairs Committee found that China invested over $10 billion in six Caribbean countries between 2005 and 2022.
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A view of Palm Beach shopping in Palm Beach, Florida. (John Parra/Getty Images)
The Panama Canal and Chinese Influence
During his inauguration speech, President Donald Trump repeated his desire to retake control of the Panama Canal, the vital strategic waterway that connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
“Above all, China is operating the Panama Canal. And we didn’t give it to China. We gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back,” Trump said in his inaugural address.
The U.S. controlled it from its 1914 completion until 1999, when it was handed over to Panama under the 1977 Torrijos-Carter Treaties. The treaties permit the U.S. military to preserve the canal’s neutrality, allowing the U.S. to perpetually use the canal.
Chinese companies have invested heavily in ports and terminals near the canal. A Hong Kong-based company runs two of the five ports close to its entrances.
“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,” he said. “And the United States needs to come in with cash of its own to drive the Chinese out of the Canal Zone and Panama.”
Gordon G. Chang discussed China’s blossoming influence in the Caribbean region and how the Trump administration should be wary of it. (Fox News Digital)
The U.S. has for decades turned a blind eye to the Western Hemisphere when it comes to national security, Chang said. But the Trump administration has sought to change that in its first few weeks in office.
As evidence, Chang pointed to Secretary of State Rubio’s trip to Panama as his first foreign trip as America’s top diplomat.
“I think that that shows that President Trump’s foreign policy, at least initially, will be focused on North and South America,” he said. “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.”
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Influx of Chinese migrants
The increase of China’s influence in the west correlates with the rising number of Chinese migrants apprehended at both the northern and southern borders.
The number of Chinese nationals has increased enormously since 2021. There were 1,970 encounters in FY 2022, more than 24,000 in FY 2023, and 24,376 in the first half of FY 2024, according to a May 2024 report by the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability.
Chang noted that the border initially saw an influx of family groups fleeing to the U.S. from China, and now two thirds of Chinese migrants coming into the U.S. are single men of military age, traveling alone, and claiming they don’t speak any English.
“And 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,” he said. “That is an ominous sign.”
Migrants in line in Jacumba, California. Border authorities are contending with an influx of Chinese migrants in a key border sector. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
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Chang noted that the border initially saw an influx of family groups fleeing to the U.S. from China, but now two thirds of Chinese migrants coming into the U.S. are single men of military age, traveling alone, and claiming they don’t speak any English.
“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,” he said. “That is an ominous sign.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the U.S. State Department for comment.
