China’s Infrastructure Trap: How Beijing Is Expanding Its Influence in the Western Hemisphere

Across Latin America and the Caribbean, the Chinese Communist Party is using infrastructure projects, state-owned companies, and government-backed financing to expand its influence throughout the Western Hemisphere. Airports, ports, energy projects, and telecommunications networks may look like ordinary investments, but they can give Beijing something far more valuable than a financial return: long-term economic and political influence.

Juan Pablo Segura, the newly appointed Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, recently highlighted this problem, warning about the record of Chinese state-owned companies operating throughout the region. He pointed to projects in Ecuador, Peru, and Guyana where he said corners were cut, contracts were broken, governments were left with debt, and local environments suffered.

Guyana provides a particularly important example. Chinese state-owned companies played a major role in the expansion of Cheddi Jagan International Airport. The project was originally expected to cost roughly $150 million and was financed largely through a loan from China’s Export-Import Bank. But the project faced delays, changes to the original plans, and disputes over the quality and completion of the work.

The airport is not an isolated case. China has spent years expanding its economic presence throughout Latin America and the Caribbean through its Belt and Road Initiative. Chinese companies have become involved in ports, energy projects, telecommunications, transportation, and other critical infrastructure. These investments can provide countries with badly needed infrastructure, but they can also create long-term dependence on Beijing. That dependence is exactly what should concern Americans.

The Chinese Communist Party does not approach these investments the same way a private American company would. China’s major state-owned enterprises operate within a system ultimately controlled by the Chinese government. When Beijing helps build a port, finance an energy project, or construct an airport, it is not simply making a business investment. It is building relationships that can increase China’s economic and political influence.

This matters because the Western Hemisphere is strategically important to the United States. Countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean are our neighbors, major trading partners, and important sources of food, energy, and critical minerals. American security is directly connected to the stability and independence of the region.

Allowing the Chinese Communist Party to become the dominant economic partner throughout our own hemisphere would be a serious strategic mistake.

This does not mean that Latin American and Caribbean countries should reject foreign investment. These nations need infrastructure, and they should have the freedom to choose who helps build it. The problem comes when Chinese state-backed financing becomes the easiest or only option available.

The United States should offer a better alternative. American policy should encourage private investment, transparent financing, and partnerships that allow countries to develop without becoming dependent on Beijing. American companies can compete by offering reliable infrastructure and investment without the political strings and strategic ambitions associated with the Chinese Communist Party.

The United States should also work more closely with allies throughout the hemisphere to expose the risks associated with Chinese state-owned companies. Countries deserve to know the full financial, environmental, and national security costs of major infrastructure agreements before signing them.

China understands that influence does not always come from military bases or political speeches. Sometimes it comes through a construction contract.

Beijing is using infrastructure to establish a long-term presence in America’s neighborhood. If the United States ignores that strategy, China will continue filling the vacuum.

Defeating communism means more than confronting communist governments directly. It means preventing the Chinese Communist Party from building the economic dependencies that allow it to expand its power around the world.

Americans should demand that our government take the Chinese threat in the Western Hemisphere seriously. Congress and the administration should support policies that encourage American investment, strengthen our regional partnerships, and give our neighbors a real alternative to Beijing. China is already competing for influence in our hemisphere. America cannot afford to sit on the sidelines.