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Barbados Decision to Remove Queen Elizabeth as Head of State Blamed on China

Henry Ridgwell

   LONDON - A prominent lawmaker from Britain's ruling Conservative Party
   has claimed that China is pressuring Barbados to remove Queen Elizabeth
   as head of state.

   The Caribbean island nation's Governor-General Sandra Mason announced
   the move as she opened a new session of the Barbadian Parliament last
   month, saying it was time to "fully leave our colonial past behind."

   "Barbadians want a Barbadian head of state. This is the ultimate
   statement of confidence in who we are and what we are capable of
   achieving. Hence, Barbados will take the next logical step towards full
   sovereignty and become a republic by the time we celebrate our 55th
   anniversary of independence" in 2021, Mason told lawmakers in
   Bridgetown.

   Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the British Parliament's Foreign Affairs
   Select Committee, told The Times of London newspaper last week that
   "China has been using infrastructure investment and debt diplomacy as a
   means of control for a while, and it's coming closer to home for us."

   "Today, we're seeing it in the Caribbean. Some islands seem to be close
   to swapping a symbolic queen in Windsor for a real and demanding
   emperor in Beijing," Tugendhat said.

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