Written by William Ratliff, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, from Wall Street Journal Asia:
Last week Chinese President Hu Jintao pledged that China will make a “concerted effort” to “establish a comprehensive cooperative partnership of equality, mutual benefit and common development” with Latin America, according to China’s Xinhua news agency. The Chinese president made his comments in Lima just before the 16th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Mr. Hu’s words — and other recent developments — warrant careful attention because they clearly signal a relationship that will expand greatly in the years ahead.
APEC was the last stop in Mr. Hu’s journey to the West, a 10-day trip which shows how much Beijing’s relations with the Western Hemisphere have changed from the “lie-low” strategy of Deng Xiaoping. This was Mr. Hu’s first trip to South America since November 2004, when he visited Brazil and Argentina en route to an APEC summit in Chile. That trip raised China’s profile in the region, but this latest trip, in a period of international financial crisis, confirmed China’s intention to play a more open, active, permanent and constructive role in the Americas, though some Latins have become doubtful or jaded.
The first-ever official policy paper on China and Latin America was released just before Mr. Hu’s trip. It outlines a range of programs in the region, including cooperation in science, technology and education, and political exchanges at all levels.
