Recognize this flag? Look closely …
Yes my friends, those are the stars of The Peoples Republic of China. On the motorbikes of Grenadian policemen. Puzzled? You wouldn’t be if you knew the history behind the National Stadium.
China has a policy colloquially called “Stadium Diplomacy”. Over the years they have built sporting venues in more than 85 different strategic countries. Grenada is one of the countries where the stadium bears the plaque of the Chinese. The stadium’s website claims it can hold 16,000 people although I think it is closer to maybe 10,000 max. It was hard to find a total price tag for the place, but it was upwards of $28 million – incidentally some of which was given by Taiwan. They want their money back and you can read about it here.
The country is certainly thankful for the millions. It is an interesting soft power strategy. So now their police bikes and stadium show their gratitude to the People’s Republic. Grenada’s Independence Day celebration even included chinese dance performances.
This article from the University of Southern California makes some interesting points about the Chinese strategy.
Xie Xie (Thank you) for reading!
