China’s rising influence in the Caribbean and Latin America in recent years has raised concerns about its potential political and economic impact on Florida.
China has strengthened its ties in these regions for around two decades through infrastructure projects and diplomatic agreements. This includes the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Beijing’s massive global infrastructure project aimed at enhancing trade, investment, and economic cooperation across Asia and other parts of the world. More than 20 Latin American and Caribbean nations are currently involved in the project.
Vincent Wang, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Adelphi University in New York, says China’s increasing presence in the region is part of a long-term geopolitical strategy, which may result in the Asian powerhouse trying to get involved in elections in Florida.
“One of the most remarkable gains in Chinese foreign policy in recent years is the increasing power and presence of the communist state in Latin America and the Caribbean, a region traditionally considered America’s backyard. This is due to China’s growing diplomatic clout, the leftward inclination of several countries, and America’s neglect,” Wang told Newsweek.
“China is strategically focused on the state of Florida because of its importance to the region and to U.S. national politics. China is interested in getting involved in U.S. electoral politics. I would say that the threat posed by China today is more serious than the threat posed by the Soviet Union during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis,” Wang added.
Newsweek reached out to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis‘ office for comment via email.
Over the years, China has invested billions of dollars in Caribbean and Latin American countries, particularly in infrastructure and trade relationships.
A House Foreign Affairs Committee report found that China invested more than $10 billion in six Caribbean countries—Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, Cuba and the Bahamas—between 2005 and 2022. These investments included tourism, transportation, agriculture, and energy sectors.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., told Newsweek that there are “no geopolitical calculations” in its engagement with Caribbean and Latin American countries,
“Cooperation between China and LAC countries has won popular support because it respects the will of the people, meets the needs of regional countries, and provides reliable options and broad prospects for the revitalization of the region,” the spokesperson said. “We take no interest in interfering in the internal affairs of any countries, including the elections in the U.S.”
Florida Warned of China’s Growing Power
Photo Illustration by Newsweek/Getty Images
Experts say Florida, home to a large Latino and Caribbean population, could be directly impacted if China decides to exert any influence in its neighboring regions.
Deborah Norden, a professor of political science at Whittier College in California, said that President Donald Trump‘s major import tariff plans against China could strengthen these countries’ connections with Beijing. This may indirectly affect Florida and potentially weaken U.S. regional dominance.
Norden also warned that China could use its presence and clout in the region to influence elections in Florida and across the country.
“Under the Trump administration, the United States is rapidly yielding its already declining hegemony in Latin America to China,” Norden told Newsweek. “The threat of tariffs drives Latin American countries to expand economic integration with more eager partners, at the same time that the obliteration of U.S. foreign aid erases decades of cultivating loyalty in the region.”
“In this context, China’s rising role, especially in the Caribbean, may put Florida at risk in that its neighbors can no longer be expected to ally with the United States in an international conflict, particularly one between the U.S. and China,” Norden added.
“The vulnerability of U.S. elections to both money and external propaganda also creates the possibility that China could, if it found it in its interest, choose to try to toss some coins on the scale of American elections in Florida or elsewhere.”
Florida was once considered the most important swing state in the country, as seen when the 2000 presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore came down to just a few hundred votes.
It has since become an increasingly strong red state, with Trump defeating former Vice President Kamala Harris by 13 points in the 2024 election and DeSantis winning reelection as governor in 2022 by 19 points.
DeSantis has previously taken steps to try to reduce Chinese influence in Florida over concerns about perceived threats from the Chinese Communist Party.
This includes signing a law in 2022 prohibiting government entities from purchasing foreign technology products and services to prevent espionage. DeSantis also directed the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) to suspend the availability of school choice scholarships to four schools that it claimed direct ties to the Chinese Communist Party in September 2023.
In May 2023, DeSantis signed three bills aimed at “counteracting the malign influence” of the Chinese Communist Party in Florida. One of these laws, Senate Bill 264, banned Chinese nationals without permanent U.S. residency from buying property or land in the state.
In February 2024, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an injunction temporarily halting the law’s enforcement, ruling that it “blatantly violates” the 14th Amendment’s protection against discrimination. The legal battle over SB 264 is ongoing.
“Governor DeSantis has prioritized the eradication of the Chinese Communist Party’s interference in Florida. Under Governor DeSantis’ leadership, Florida delivered the strongest posturing in the nation to confront economic, strategic, and security threat—the Chinese Communist Party,” a spokesperson for DeSantis told Newsweek.
In addition to its infrastructure projects, China has strengthened military ties with several Latin American and Caribbean countries, especially Venezuela.
John Lee, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute think tank who served as a senior national security adviser to the Australian foreign minister between 2016 and 2018, previously told Newsweek that Chinese activities raise a “threefold” threat to U.S. influence in the Caribbean and Latin America.
“First, increased economic, financial, and technological dependency on China offers Beijing opportunities to exert influence in the geopolitical decisions and even domestic politics of smaller states,” Lee said.
“Second, China seeks to redefine and change the rules and standards used by nations to conduct commerce and trade in its favor. Third, Chinese development and operation of ports in foreign countries have been used by Beijing to gather significant military and economic intelligence for the purposes of aiding China in its geopolitical rivalry with the U.S.”
Gordon G. Chang, an author and expert on U.S.-China relations, recently suggested that China’s presence in the Caribbean region could open Florida up to an influx of Chinese migrants trying to enter the U.S. illegally via the Sunshine State.
“I think the Chinese are trying to gain influence in a region that is very close to the American homeland,” Chang told Fox News in February.
With U.S.-China tensions rising amid a trade war between the two powerhouses and Beijing deepening its presence in the West, it remains to be seen just how vital Florida could become if it becomes the forefront of a new geopolitical battle.
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