Forget Beijing’s big government-sponsored projects. A silent flood of new Chinese immigrants is entering the Caribbean, reshaping a pro-West region. Tall and well-groomed, Brian Richards has eyes that smile when he talks about the fellowship he says exists between Chinese immigrants and Trinidadians of African or Indian descent at the Grace Chapel church in the heart of Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago. Richards, in his mid-30s, has for the past three years been pastor of the church, home to a Chinese Christian Fellowship congregation where 50 members regularly meet. But look beyond the church, and things appear less rosy. Small Chinese businesses are cropping up throughout the Caribbean, bringing with them concerns ranging from who they employ to whether they adhere to local standards and laws. Chinese immigrants usually open family-run businesses where they employ other workers from China, instead of locals, says Ramchand Rajbal Maraj, president of the Couva/Point Lisas Chamber of Commerce in Trinidad. On the other hand, he concedes, they do provide significant rental income to locals. Dwyer Astapahan, a businessman and former government minister in the neighboring island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis, is clearer: Chinese immigrant businesses are hurting his country. | 
