BAHAMAS OPENS EMBASSY IN BEIJING, SIGNS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NASSAU 000238

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/CAR WBENT, WHA/PCP JBISCHOFF, WHA/EPSC
LGUMBINER, INR/B, S/UNR

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/10/2016
TAGS: PREL BF CH IN KUNR
SUBJECT: BAHAMAS OPENS EMBASSY IN BEIJING, SIGNS
COOPERATION AGREEMENT IN NEW DELHI

REF: 05 NASSAU 1601

Classified By: CDA D. Brent Hardt, Reasons 1.4 b and d


1. (C) SUMMARY: Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell visited China
and India January 17-30, expanding political ties in China
and business ties in India. In China, the GCOB opened its
new embassy in Beijing, discussed UN reform, and received a
gift of $3.75 million dollars from the PRC. The use of the
grant will be negotiated later in the year. New Chief of
Mission for the embassy, Phillip Miller, is a former leader
of the leftist Worker's Party with a checkered past; he had
been working as Under Secretary for Trade and Economic
Affairs at the MFA. Following the China trip, Minister
Mitchell stopped in India for a week-long trade visit,
signing a bilateral cooperation agreement, establishing a
joint business council and promoting Bahamian tourism to
newly wealthy Indians. END SUMMARY.

New Embassy in Beijing Comes With $3.75 Million Gift
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2. (U) Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell led a delegation to
China in January, officially opening the new Bahamian Embassy
in Beijing on January 21. While The Bahamas has had
diplomatic relations with the PRC since May 1997, the embassy
is the first permanent diplomatic presence the country has
had in mainland China.


3. (U) Following bilateral discussions between Mitchell and
Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, the PRC pledged 30
million yuan ($3.75 million) as a gift to the GCOB.
According to the government, the gift was announced during
the bilateral talks that covered "the continuing political
instability in Haiti and the issue of human rights reform at
the United Nations." The MFA says that discussions regarding
use of the gift will occur during a follow-up visit of a
Chinese official -- most likely a Vice Minister of Trade --
to The Bahamas later in 2006.


4. (C) The new Bahamian Chief of Mission in China, Phillip
Arthur Walter Miller, has served as head of the Trade and
Economic Affairs Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
since 2003. From 1993-2003, he served in the Prime
Minister's Office, working with the Bahamas Investment
Authority. Miller is a former leader of the leftist Worker's
Party. The Worker's Party was active in 1980's student
protests, but is now a fringe party affiliated loosely with
the ruling PLP. In 1982, Miller was convicted for possession
of marijuana. In 1984, Miller was charged with sedition for
advocating a coup at a Worker's Party rally related to
liberalization of drug laws. Because of the drug conviction,
Miller's ability travel to or through the United States is
subject to visa waiver requirements, which has generated
occasional embarrassment and resentment. The official GCOB
biography of Miller can be found at
www.mfabahamas.org/Man.htm.

India Visit Results in Hope for Increased Tourism and Trade
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5. (U) Following the visit to China, the Bahamas Chamber of
Commerce and the Bahamas Maritime Authority joined Mitchell
for a week-long visit to India. On January 23, the Chambers
of Commerce for India and The Bahamas signed an agreement to
establish a Joint Business Council to improve trade
relations. On January 24, the GCOB and the GOI signed a
general bilateral cooperation agreement, which Mitchell said,
"is the first step toward concretizing the bilateral
relationship." Most importantly for The Bahamas, the trip
included the promotion of tourism. The Bahamians met with
the Indian Association of Tour Operators to tap into the
growing market of upwardly mobile Indians with leisure money
to spend. To overcome obstacles in obtaining visas, The
Bahamas intends to grant entry to Indians holding U.S. or
Canadian visas. The Bahamians also pledged to assist India's
fledgling cruise industry. Bahamian tourism officials plan a
follow-up visit to India later this year.


6. (C) COMMENT: These visits are consistent with Mitchell's
continued efforts to raise The Bahamas' international profile
and to diversify The Bahamas' economic and political
relationships by building ties with emerging economic
powerhouses. Efforts to expand ties with the world's two
most populous nations are also welcome to a tourism industry
eager to break into potentially lucrative new markets. The
opening of the embassy in Beijing has been expected since the
closing of the Bahamian Consulate in Hong Kong in October,

2004. The announcement of an unencumbered grant of $3.75
million helps the government sell the benefits of its
diplomatic outreach and will certainly help compensate for
other costs of maintaining the new mission in Beijing. China
has previously promised to build a $30 million stadium that
has been on the drawing board since August 2004. END COMMENT.
HARDT