Suriname: Bearing aid and cheap loans, China's invasion of Suriname goes on

The Foreign Ministry's elegant new headquarters in Suriname is a gift from the Chinese government.

Chinese signs on hundreds of businesses, from casinos to grocery shops and furniture stores, beckon the residents of this capital. Chinese work crews are paving roads cutting through the jungle. Anchored by a surge in immigration to this country since the '90s, and smoothed with gifts of aid and low-interest loans, China has quietly but surely established a foothold in Suriname, a tiny corner of South America that is often an afterthought even for its neighbours.

While the economic aid has certainly been welcome in Suriname, formerly known as Dutch Guiana, the growing political and demographic profile of the Chinese here has created concerns.

They range from xenophobic calls from some political leaders to investigate what they call a "Chinese invasion" to more tempered efforts to decipher what effect China's rising influence will have on a country that is already distant linguistically and culturally from the rest of South America.

For more: TODAYonline | World | Bearing aid and cheap loans, China's invasion of Suriname goes on