China’s billion-dollar footprint near Florida coast poses US national security risk, expert warns

China is steadily expanding successful the Bahamas done projects that blur economical improvement and geopolitical aims, an adept warned. 

"The People's Republic of China has been making diplomatic, economical and adjacent subject and quasi-military inroads into the Caribbean, South and Central America for the past mates of decades," retired Rear Adm. Peter Brown, erstwhile Homeland Security advisor to President Donald Trump, told Fox News Digital.

Brown pointed to the emergence successful dual-use infrastructure projects on the Bahamas coastline, which is located conscionable 50 miles disconnected the seashore of Florida. 

"It doesn't instrumentality a batch of imaginativeness for the People's Republic of China to usage its commercialized footprint successful the Bahamas to monitor, exploit and possibly adjacent bash worse to [the] U.S.," helium said. 

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Miami Beach, Florida, is conscionable 50 miles from the Bahamas, wherever China is steadily expanding its presence, an adept warned. (Getty Images)

Pointing to the Chinese-controlled British Colonial Hotel successful Nassau, Bahamas, Brown said that its determination straight crossed from the U.S. Embassy could springiness mode to quality gathering connected U.S. personnel.

"It doesn’t instrumentality a batch of imaginativeness to deliberation that further electronics were enactment successful determination with the intent and the task of keeping an oculus not lone connected the U.S. Embassy itself, but besides the U.S. Embassy visitors," helium said.

The edifice is owned by a Chinese company, Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, which has raised geopolitical concerns fixed its location. Fox News Digital has reached retired to the British Colonial Hotel for comment.

China has invested heavy successful the Bahamas done a scope of further high-profile projects, including a $40 cardinal assistance for a nationalist stadium, a $3 cardinal mega-port successful Freeport, and $40 cardinal for the North Abaco Port and Little Abaco Bridge.

Additionally, China EXIM Bank provided implicit $54 cardinal successful loans to conception a four-lane road and astir $3 cardinal to concern the improvement of the Baha Mar Resort.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks alongside U.S. President Donald Trump during a Cabinet gathering astatine the White House connected April 10, 2025, successful Washington, D.C.  ( Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Many of these strategical investments came successful the aftermath of the devastating Hurricane Dorian successful 2019 that near overmuch of the archipelago federation decimated.

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In 2019, now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned successful a Miami Herald op-ed that the devastation caused by the earthy catastrophe could make an opening for the People’s Republic of China to usage assistance arsenic a Trojan equine to summation a foothold adjacent American shores.

"By targeting the Bahamian authorities successful this play of crisis, Beijing would beryllium making the aforesaid opportunistic play to entree captious overseas infrastructure," Rubio wrote successful 2019. "But successful this case, the nationalist information menace is particularly perilous, arsenic it would springiness China a foothold conscionable 50 miles from the seashore of Florida."

SpaceX lands a Falcon 9 rocket connected a drone vessel disconnected the Bahamas' coast. (Handout)

In summation to increasing Chinese infrastructure influence, Brown highlighted the Bahamas' relation successful U.S. subject investigating and its presumption nether cardinal abstraction motorboat paths.

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"The U.S. Navy has an underwater investigating facility, called Autech, that does precise important and delicate submarine and anti-submarine warfare work," helium said. "[And] the Bahamas are close successful the formation way of galore abstraction launches."

Rows of sunbeds and coconut thenar trees successful Nassau, the Bahamas. (EyesWideOpen/Getty Image)

Strategic value of U.S.-Bahamas relationship

Brown said that the biggest payment that the U.S. gets from an ongoing collaborative narration with the Bahamas is security.

"The amended narration we have, the much unafraid we tin be, due to the fact that we tin observe and woody with issues erstwhile they're inactive benignant connected the Bahamas broadside of the Straits of Florida," helium said.

"From an economical standpoint, the immense summation for the Bahamas is that commercialized and tourism proscription with the United States," helium said. "So, it's successful our communal involvement for america to person a bully narration with the Bahamians."

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As China increases its beingness successful the region, the U.S. risks losing power if it fails to stay the Bahamas' superior ally, Brown said.

"If we're not the Bahamas' champion friend, idiosyncratic other volition be—and we don't privation that idiosyncratic to beryllium China."