Why Are Chinese Coming Into Florida By Boat From The Bahamas?

In the world of intelligence, the most critical question to ask is “Why”? You don’t just report that something is happening. You dig into the reasons it is happening. What does the information mean? Only by asking that question do you have any hope of getting to the truth and being able to predict what will happen next.

Federal authorities report that Chinese nationals are now “self-smuggling” into Florida. They are arriving in the Bahamas, buying boats, and then sailing to Florida. A number have been apprehended. No one knows how many more have arrived undetected.

Why is this happening?

The convenient explanation trotted out by most of the press appears to be that these are Chinese nationals fleeing worsening economic conditions in mainland China and seeking freedom in the United States. Really? So, unemployed factory workers in China who are worried about where their next meal is coming from have the money, resources, and knowledge to fly to the Bahamas, buy boats and then navigate themselves from the Bahamas to Florida. And they have the knowledge of Florida’s coast required to land safely and make their way inland?

Where does that cash come from? Where does that knowledge come from? What are their plans once they dock at a marina on Florida’s east coast?

Gordon Chang, one of our premier experts on the Chinese threat, said out loud recently what any reasonable person would think in response to the upsurge in infiltration of Chinese via Florida. “When I first saw that the surge in Chinese migrants, that’s the thought that came to my mind that these are either Ministry of State Security agents or Chinese military, who are coming to this country to commit acts of sabotage against the US,” Chang said.

The reality is that this uptick in “self-smuggling” by Chinese nationals is not occurring in a vacuum. There are a number of well-known factors that ought to give us pause and make us seriously consider that what we are seeing is not simply economic migration.

First,  the Bahamas have been a haven for smugglers for many years. In fact, there have been in the past a number of cases of Chinese nationals showing up in South Florida hiding on board luxury yachts. Individuals claiming to be operating tour companies have pocketed serious cash by hiding Chinese below decks and then turning them loose at marinas in Florida.  The Bahamas are, of course, also well known for the level of narcotics smuggling that occurs.

The Chinese government also has a massive official presence in the Bahamas. The biggest Chinese embassy in the world is in the Bahamas. The Chinese are actively acquiring property there in proximity to an extremely sensitive U.S. Navy underwater test range. The Chinese have been caught tapping into cellphone networks in the Bahamas to spy on Americans. Some estimates are that there may be as many as 600 Chinese intelligence officers assigned to the CCP’s Bahamas embassy.

It should be noted as well that the apparent uptick in the number of Chinese entering Florida by boat from the Bahamas is occurring while we are also seeing a very troubling increase in the number of military-age Chinese males coming across our southern border. No reasonable explanation for that phenomenon has been offered nor has that flow stopped.

So, what we know for sure is that it appears that we are seeing a significant increase in the number of Chinese entering Florida illegally by boat from the Bahamas. These Chinese are managing to leave China and make it all the way to the Bahamas, a trip that entails considerable expense. Somebody is then footing the bill for them to either buy yachts themselves or book them passage on yachts operated by smugglers.

All of this is occurring via an island nation in which the CCP operates a huge embassy that houses literally hundreds of Chinese intelligence officers. If you were looking for a platform from which to dispatch teams of operatives or saboteurs you could not ask for anything better.

What we still don’t know is why all this is happening. We better find out quickly. If this is not simply “self-smuggling” based on economic considerations and its pace really is intensifying the implications of that may be very dire.