China’s growing influence over the Commonwealth’s armies

On Monday in the city of Bridgetown, Prince Charles will be forced to witness the spectacle of Barbados officially becoming a republic as it removes the Queen as its head of state. The former British colony became independent in 1966, but last year the country’s Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced that the country would have its own president, though it will remain a member of the Commonwealth.

The decision appears to have been influenced to some degree by China’s activities. Barbados has signed up to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), while an office to facilitate investment in Barbados has opened in Beijing. Prime Minister Mia Mottley calls President Xi ‘very engaging’. Barbados was among the first English-speaking Caribbean countries to establish ties with China and Beijing is now making millions of dollars’ worth of donations to the country’s armed forces.

But Barbados is not the only Commonwealth country which has attracted China’s attention.