Tourism paradise, The Bahamas, has found itself in the midst of a simmering geopolitical row between the U.S. and China over Chinese financing and construction of a major specialty hospital, with the U.S. urging the Bahamians to walk away from the project and deal with us instead.

Responding to suggestions to abandon it, The Bahamian government has said that its efforts to secure financing from the American Exim Bank had failed despite multiple attempts to engage the bank and to secure financing for the 200-bed specialty women’s and children’s hospital, for which the Chinese would provide $195 million in financing. The state will provide the remaining 27 %.

Trying desperately even at this very late hour to persuade the Bahamians to engage U.S. banks and construction firms instead of the Chinese, recently accredited U.S. Ambassador Herschel Walker, a former NFL star and supporter of President Donald Trump, said in a statement that Washington is willing to intervene and help.

“It (the project) doesn’t appear to be in the best interests of The Bahamas to submit to Chinese law and labor standards on their own soil. We stand ready to work with The Bahamas to help secure a better deal-whether from private or public sources- to provide the healthcare infrastructure Bahamians deserve,” he said.

But from all appearances, The Bahamian cabinet appears to be nevertheless moving forward with the Chinese and has indicated that it is way too late to reverse course, as the loan agreement has already been signed. Details such as a 50/50 split between Chinese and Bahamian workers have already been inked.

Responding to the latest developments, Minister of Health Michael Darville told reporters this past week that authorities have taken note of the US’s position, but that much of the work on the project has already been done.

He said the project was concluded and is being undertaken “following careful technical, legal, and financial assessment, with the overriding priority being the urgent health care needs of the Bahamian people. Prior to finalizing the current arrangements, The Bahamas engaged at the highest levels of the US on numerous occasions, including discussions with the US Export-Import Bank. While there were conversations, The Bahamas did not receive a financing response that met the scale, timing, and certainty required to advance this critical national project,” Darville made clear.

There is also a third-party trading barbs about the project.

In its own statement, the Chinese embassy noted that “China–Bahamas cooperation involves no geopolitical calculations, targets no third party, and should not be interfered with by any external party. China’s policy is to respect the sovereignty of The Bahamas and to support its independent choice of development paths and partners,” the mission stated, dubbing the hospital as a “livelihood project financed through a highly preferential loan.”

China Railway Construction Company will build the hospital in Nassau, the capital. Repayment of the loan would be at 2% over 20 years, with a five-year grace period. The American mission argues that this very Chinese company has been blacklisted by the Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control because of links to the Chinese military and should not be allowed to operate in The Bahamas.