NASSAU, The Bahamas — China has doubled down on its dismissal of the United States’ criticism of a multi-million dollar loan to The Bahamas, describing as “baseless and absurd” accusations that it was using the funding  for the construction of a hospital to further entrench itself in the Caribbean region.

“Is there a US loan proposal at all on the table?” the Chinese Embassy asked in a statement, regarding the US$195 million funding for the hospital in western New Providence.

Last week, the Phillip Davis government signed a deal with the People’s Republic of China to fund the hospital that is expected to cost US$267 million, with 73 per cent of the costs, or $195 million, being provided by the Chinese Export-Import Bank.

The diplomatic row over the funding comes amidst reports that Nassau had bypassed a British financing proposal earlier this year with the Tribune newspaper reporting that UK Export Finance had offered terms competitive with China’s, with the added advantage of compatibility with Western medical equipment and training systems.

Director of Communications in the Office of the Prime Minister Latrae Ramming is quoted as saying that the project was already too advanced by the time UK firms formally engaged, and reiterated the government’s position that China’s terms were “very favourable”.

“We do not intend to get between the geopolitical fight of China and the United States. The Prime Minister has been very clear that China has always been a partner in The Bahamas’ long-term economic development,” said Ramming.

US Chargé d’Affaires, Kim Funish, said in a statement over the last weekend that Beijing’s  investments in the Caribbean do not benefit ordinary citizens and serve only the elite.

She said they “leave countries with shoddy or incomplete projects and unsustainable debt to China, jeopardising their development and sovereignty”.

But in its statement, the Chinese embassy responded to the allegations by Washington, saying that the loans account for only a small fraction of The Bahamas’ external debt and do not come with political conditions.

“The very Western countries that repeat the so-called ‘Chinese debt trap’ narrative are, in fact, the ones whose dominance of multilateral financial institutions and commercial lenders are the major creditors and sources of debt stress,” it said.

“China is a trustworthy friend and reliable partner of The Bahamas,” the Chinese Embassy said, citing hospital projects in Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana as examples of cooperation that “involves no geopolitical calculations, seeks no spheres of influence, and imposes no political conditions”.

It called on Washington to abandon “its outdated Cold War mentality and zero-sum game approach” and take “an open and inclusive attitude” toward China’s cooperation with Latin American and Caribbean nations.

“The loan provided by China is long-term and very low-interest,” the statement said.