Our passports are again in danger thanks to concerns about a Chinese tech company’s investment that again involves possible abuse of the Antiguan Citizenship by Investment Program (CIP).
The luxury resort development at the heart of this controversy is the newly launched US$200 million Long Bay Zen Resort project on Antigua’s eastern coastline, which officially broke ground in May 2026. A state-owned Chinese company is doing the construction.
Companies and the History Behind the Project
• The Developer (Ediacaran Hotel Limited / The Ediacaran Group): The project is spearheaded by Sophie Zhong and the Ediacaran Group, a “Hong Kong” investor whose roots lie in gaming, data analytics, data centers, and cloud computing. The group bought the original 50-year-old Long Bay Hotel property approximately 11 years ago. The project was heavily delayed after the investors lost tens of millions of dollars in an offshore banking collapse, but they resurrected it as a 113-key “quiet luxury” eco-resort complete with AI butlers, automated guest vehicles, and an underwater wedding chapel. The owners legally obtained their Antiguan passports through CIP.
• The Construction Partner: The project team explicitly selected the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC)—a massive, state-owned enterprise controlled by the Beijing government—as its primary construction and engineering partner.
Why This Could Upset the Trump Administration
The development is highly likely to draw negative attention from the Trump administration due to a combination of geopolitical, economic, and regional security factors:
• Expanding Chinese State Influence in the “Third Border”: The U.S. government views the Caribbean, its southern maritime border, as its strategic Third Border. The Trump administration’s foreign policy is highly sensitive to China’s “Belt and Road” style expansion in the Western Hemisphere. Seeing a Chinese state-owned enterprise (CCECC) build critical infrastructure and premium resort properties right on America’s doorstep is viewed by Washington as an economic and potentially intelligence-gathering security threat. Involvement of a high-tech company as the lead investor will be met with equal alarm.
• The Weaponization of CIP Passports: The Trump administration, along with Western allies, has consistently raised red flags over Caribbean Citizenship by Investment Programs. The fact that the Antiguan government allows a foreign entity to sell CIP passports to fund a major resort built by a Chinese state firm exacerbates fears regarding transparency, visa-free travel loopholes, and national security vulnerabilities.
• The Sidelining of Western Brands: The project stands in sharp contrast to traditional Western hospitality investments. The Gaston Browne administration has famously engaged in highly public, aggressive tax feuds with Western brands like Jamaica-based Sandals Resorts (often championed by regional partners). Transitioning prime Caribbean beachfront over to Chinese state contractors signals a pivot away from Western economic alignment, directly contradicting the Trump administration’s mandate to curb Chinese economic dominance.
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