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China news tagged with: Latin America (41)

• Hugo Restall: China’s Latin Economic Gambit

  

  From Wall Street Journal:

  Americans tend to see China’s economic rise through the prism of the bilateral trade deficit and competition for manufacturing jobs. But the real story is that Chinese institutions are buying equity stakes and making loans to increase their influence in natural resources. And Latin America is the most important arena for China’s investments.

  Some observers portray this as a threat in the U.S. “backyard.” The truth is that the developing trade between China and Latin American countries represents an opportunity—if the U.S. plays its cards right.

  There are several reasons to be relatively sanguine about China’s increasing involvement in Latin America. Most obviously, the Chinese interest in the region is pragmatic rather than ideological. The goal is to further economic growth at home by opening new markets and guaranteeing a supply of necessary inputs.

  » Read more
  • August 23, 2009 7:05 PM

• Clinton Frets over Iran, China Inroads in Americas

  

  AFP reports:

  Clinton said President Barack Obama has had to take a new tack after his predecessor George W. Bush’s efforts to isolate such leaders only made them “more negative” toward Washington and receptive to other powers.

  “I don’t think in today’s world … that it is in our interest to turn our back on countries in our own hemisphere,” Clinton told diplomats and other State Department staff.

  She described the new world as “a multipolar world where we are competing for attention and relationships with at least the Russians, the Chinese, the Iranians,” adding such countries can soon fill the void.

  “If you look at the gains, particularly in Latin America, that Iran is making, that China is making, it’s quite disturbing,” the chief US diplomat said.

  » Read more
  • May 1, 2009 2:09 PM

• China Pursues Latin America Ties

  

  Both the Chinese Vice President and Vice Premier are making high-profile visits to Latin America this week. Vice Premier Hui Liangyu will visit Argentina, Ecuador, Barbados and the Bahamas, while Vice President Xi Jinping is visiting Jamaica, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil and Mexico. President Hu paid a visit to Cuba and Costa Rica at the end of last year. The BBC reports:

  It is not simply a trip to groom a president-in-waiting or to strike more deals for natural resources, as is often the case with Africa.

  China’s export markets in Europe and North America have shrunk substantially in the global financial crisis.

  The government is desperate to open up new markets in the region of more than half a billion consumers and maintain market share for China’s export machines in 2009.

  China is the third largest trading partner for Latin America.

  Last month, it was reported that China had joined the Inter-American Development Bank, with a contribution of $350 million. From the Wall Street Journal:

  China plans to help fund a number of initiatives to help Latin American countries cope with the global financial crisis and economic slowdown, including $125 million for the IDB’s special operations fund that lends to the poorest countries.

  “Amidst the current financial crisis, it is of greater importance to strengthen comprehensive cooperation between China and Latin America,” said Zhou Wenzhong, China’s U.S. ambassador, at Monday’s signing ceremony.

  IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno said China’s membership comes “at a critical moment for the world economy, when countries need to protect recent social and economic gains.”

  Meanwhile a congressional hearing urged President Obama to refocus American attention on the region. From AFP:

  Obama’s predecessor George W. Bush’s lack of attention to Latin America was partly blamed for the spread of Chavez’ influence in the region, and subcommittee chairman and Democrat Eliot Engel warned of further leftist encroachment unless US policy changed.

  “If we create a vacuum, others will rush in, like Iran or China,” he said.

  See also:
  - “Mexico could be door for Chinese investment in Latin America” from Xinhua

  » Read more
  • February 8, 2009 11:10 PM

• China 2008: China and the Developing World

  

  Over the next week, CDT will post a series of topic pages on relevant issues facing China. The first, below, is on China’s relations with the developing world:

  One of the most interesting developments in China’s foreign policy in the last 5-10 years has been China’s increasing involvement in the developing world. China’s involvement has taken a number of forms, including direct financial aid, strengthened trade ties, and technology/arms transfers. Additionally, China has regularly hosted and attended annual meetings from a number of regions.  One of China’s most attractive features for developing countries is that it is known for providing development aid and infrastructure assistance without conditions or requirements, in direct opposition to many Western countries and organizations.  Furthermore, China strictly adheres to a non-interference policy, respecting international sovereignty and avoiding interference in a country’s internal affairs: something the West is not necessarily committed to.  The articles linked to below primarily show China’s involvement in Africa and Latin America.  As the articles describe, China has provided a wide-range of assistance, from funding for hospitals to trade agreements.

  China’s Motivations: There are a number of reasons for China’s involvement in the developing world. One of the most important of those reasons is China’s access to natural resources, which are plentiful in many of the developing countries China supports.  China is anxious to secure alternative energy sources, as well as alternative markets for its products. Additionally, China reaches out to developing nations for security reasons: it both wants to solidify its periphery as well as isolate Taiwan on the international scene. Indeed, many of the countries that China has financially aided have withdrawn their official acknowledgment of Taiwan. Finally, China provides aid to developing countries in order to support a multipolar world and hedge against the United States. On a softer note, China sees itself as the “world’s largest developing country” and feels a kinship with other developing nations, though it is quickly (if it has not already) moving out of this category.

  Soft Power: Developed by Joseph Nye, soft power is the concept of expanding one’s influence through non-military means.  Scholars and journalists have recently linked China’s involvement in the developing world with the concept of soft power, commenting with some concern that China may be making a conscious effort to supplant U.S. power through its financial support of developing nations.  While Chinese influence is certainly increasing in regions such as Latin America and Africa, it is unclear whether China is making a concerted effort to supplant the United States through the use of soft power.

  China’s Relationship with Pariah States: Much of the criticism of China’s foreign policy has arisen from its support of pariah states.  China supports Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, the military junta in Burma, and has provided the government of Sudan with weapons.  As mentioned above, many consider these actions as China’s way of hedging against U.S. power. Though China has remained recalcitrant in its support of some pariah nations, it’s desire to be a respected member of the international system has led China to take a leadership role against other pariah states such as North Korea.

  The World’s Response to China’s outreach: The West has become concerned with China’s involvement in the developing world for a number of reasons.  First, China’s practice of providing aid without obligations has made it difficult for the West to promote good governance and sustainable development with aid as a carrot.  Additionally, as noted above, China’s support for a number of pariah states makes it nearly impossible to isolate the states to create regime change.  Hopefully, China will increasingly prioritize its standing in the world and work to become a respectable member in the global community through more responsible lending practices.
  

  • Dec 02 2008: China to Extend Major Financial Support to Nepal
  • Dec 01 2008: China grants Sudan $3m for north-south unity
  • Nov 30 2008: China Urges Practical Steps To Help Developing Countries In Confronting Crisis
  • Nov 29 2008: China Helps Fight Cholera in Zimbabwe
  • Nov 29 2008: China Concerned over Situation in DR Congo
  • Nov 24 2008: China president in Greece for $1 billion port deal
  • Nov 18 2008: China, Costa Rica to Launch Trade Talks
  • Oct 01 2008: Salsa Fever Sweeps into China
  • Sep 16 2008: China Urges Iran’s Cooperation with Nuclear Agency

  
  

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  • December 3, 2008 11:28 PM

• William Ratliff: China’s Latin American Tango

  

  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.

  » Read more
  • November 26, 2008 7:49 PM

• Hu Offers China as Cure for Latin American Woes

  

  Reuters reports on President Hu Jintao’s visit to Peru during his Latin American tour:

  In an address to Peru’s Congress, Hu made no mention of the United States and its regional dominance. But he made the case for China playing a bigger role across Latin America by combining its appetite for resources, investment potential and understanding of Third World concerns.

  A global downturn may be sapping demand for Latin American goods, but China’s economy will keep growing, Hu assured the lawmakers.

  “Development is the most pressing task for both China and Latin America,” Hu said. “In our cooperation we will take care of Latin America’s legitimate concerns and strive to realize mutually beneficial gains for all.”

  See also:
  * “China, Peru issue joint press communique on strategic partnership, FTA” from Xinhua
  * “China Exporters May Gain From Trade Deal With Peru” from the Wall Street Journal
  * “Chinese ‘Bill Gates’ booed by angry Peruvian textile workers” from AFP.

  » Read more
  • November 21, 2008 2:20 PM

• David Shambaugh: Beijing’s Thrust Into Latin America

  

  Written by David Shambaugh, Director of the China Policy Program at George Washington University, from International Herald Tribune:

  History might mark the meeting last weekend of the Group of 20 nations in Washington as formal anointment of China as a major world economic power. On the heel of that historic meeting, President Hu Jintao of China heads south to Latin America to mark another milestone in China’s growing power and influence.

  While the principal purpose of the trip is to join 21 other leaders at the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in Lima, Hu’s tour highlights China’s growing ties in the region. Since his last Latin American tour in 2004, China has burst onto the regional stage with a flurry of investments, trade, military exchanges and diplomacy.

  Read also China deepens Latin America ties by James Painter.

  » Read more
  • November 21, 2008 5:21 AM

• Chinese President on Cuban Visit

  

  President Hu Jintao has arrived in Cuba on his tour of Latin America. China is the island’s biggest trading partner after Venezuela. From the BBC:

  China has seen its trade with Latin American nations climb from $13bn in 2000 to more than $100bn in 2007.

  “My visit is aimed at increasing friendship and co-operation between our two nations, and working together with our Cuban comrades to build a promising future,” Mr Hu said in a statement. …

  China, a modern-day economic powerhouse in a world of financial uncertainty, sees Cuba with its need for investment and political support as an important ally in its long-range plans to strengthen and expand its ties with the rest of Latin America, he adds.

  After Cuba, Hu will head to Peru for the Apec (Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation) summit in Lima. The AP’s Frank Bajak reports that China isn’t letting the global financial crisis get in the way of its ambitions in Latin America:

  China’s trade with Latin America was $102 billion last year, but already in the first nine months of this year it reached $111 billion, Chile’s ambassador to Beijing, Fernando Reyes, told The Associated Press. That compares with U.S.-Latin American trade of $560 billion last year.

  Hu’s government insists its interests are not just commercial. In its first policy paper on ties with the region, China’s foreign ministry suggested it might help Latin American countries reduce their debts. It also said it wants to help Latin American nations narrow the gap between rich and poor.

  To that end, China last month bought into the Interamerican Development Bank with a very modest $350 million investment for social, anti-poverty related projects. That compares to Washington’s 30 percent stake in a fund that exceeds $100 billion.

  The money may be small, but the symbolism is big: The United States isn’t the only world power Latin America can turn to for help.

  » Read more
  • November 17, 2008 9:41 PM

• China Vows Closer Latin American Ties Ahead of Hu Visit

  

  From AFP:

  China vowed closer trade, energy and military ties with Latin American and Caribbean countries in a policy paper released on Wednesday ahead of a planned trip to the region by President Hu Jintao.

  Although the paper contained few specifics, China pledged to pursue a “comprehensive and cooperative” partnership with a region that has traditionally been viewed as falling under US diplomatic sway.

  » Read more
  • November 5, 2008 6:21 PM

• An Assessment of China’s Deepening Ties to Latin America

  

  Written by William Ratliff, a research fellow and curator of the Americas Collection at the Hoover Institution, from China Brief:

  The explosive growth of China’s links to Latin America in recent years are but the latest developments in a history that reaches back to the Spanish colonial empire in the early-16th century. In some ways the perceived benefits and liabilities have not changed much over the centuries, though they are now on a far grander scale. A Spanish padre wrote in 1669 that “one cannot imagine any exquisite article for the equipment of a house which does not come from China.” At the same time, however, Spanish barbers in Mexico City petitioned the government to relocate Chinese barbers to the outskirts of the city because they worked too much and that constituted “unfair business practice” [1]. Only during the militant Maoist decade of the early-1960s to mid-1970s was China’s primary interest in Latin America, which was marginal, to overthrow existing governments.

  » Read more
  • May 24, 2008 11:56 PM

• Tofu Politics

  

  China’s appetite for Brazilian-grown soy beans is helping soy farmers there to flourish, but government officials want China to do more than just buy raw materials: President Hu Jintao hasn’t come through on a promise to make sizable investments in South America and attitudes there are hardening. From NPR’s Morning Edition:

  China is emerging as an economic powerhouse throughout the world — including in the backyard of the United States.

  Hungry for trade with mineral- and agriculture-rich Latin America, the Chinese are binding themselves closer with the continent, snapping up commodities such as Brazilian soy and Chilean copper in record amounts.

  In Brazil, the soy bonanza is changing the fortunes of soy farmers, as well as the landscape. …

  Listen to the story here.

  » Read more
  • April 1, 2008 5:25 PM

• FT Series: China Goes Global – Financial Times

  

  In 2007, Chinese companies expanded overseas, as did investors. On the other side, foreign investment swarmed into the Chinese capital market. Financial Times writers summarized this year’s trend on China going global and global investors going to China. From The Financial Times:

  Any takeover battle or asset sale these days is certain to spur speculation about a possible bidder from China, with Chinese companies or government agencies over the past few months involved in investment in some of the best-known names in international finance.

  As the flurry of investments adds to a sense that the geopolitical axis is shifting, FT writers take a look at whether there is such a thing as “The Big Red Chequebook”, as one headline put it, and to what extent the deals are a relentless, government-led strategy of international expansion.

  » Read more
  • December 24, 2007 10:50 AM

• Panama Schools to Teach Chinese – BBC

  

  While offering Mandarin has become de rigueur in top schools throughout the U.S. and Europe, it is also apparently catching on in less likely locales. From the BBC:

  Panama is moving to make the teaching of Mandarin compulsory in all schools, in recognition of China’s growing importance in the world economy.

  …China is the biggest single user of the Panama Canal that connects the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

  The bill’s supporters recognise that English is the international language of business but say that with China’s increasing economic influence, Mandarin is set to be an indispensable language. [Full text]

  » Read more
  • December 8, 2007 10:43 PM

• The PLA in Latin America – Cynthia Watson

  

  From China Brief (Volume 7, Issue 20):

  China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) increasingly operates as an instrument of diplomatic statecraft for the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The PLA, an arm of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) rather than a national army, is enhancing its ties with various militaries around the world, illustrated by military-to-military visits to the United States, India and other nations, fleet visits to ports around the globe and various other visits by senior PLA officers. The military’s role constitutes just one part of an expanding presence that China manifests as a “major power” on the global stage.

  In particular, the PLA’s involvement with Latin America illustrates Beijing’s pursuit of a multi-faceted strategy to expand its global presence. Latin America, of course, has the historical overlay of the U.S. Monroe Doctrine of 1823, whereby the United States jealously guarded the region from “foreign” intervention, often disregarding the distress of others in and outside of the region. [Full Text]

  Cynthia Watson is a Professor at the National War College.

  » Read more
  • November 1, 2007 9:13 AM

• PRC Trade and Latin America’s Paradox – Enrique Dussel Peters

  

  From Project Syndicate, via Taipei Times:

  Relations between China and Latin America and the Caribbean are paradoxical. As bilateral trade increases and diplomatic relations strengthen, a lack of knowledge persists between the two regions, and in some cases tensions are growing. Hardly any major projects between China and Latin America have been initiated by the private, public or academic sectors, and bilateral institutions do not yet reflect the weight of economic dynamics.

  There are two aspects to this paradox. First, many Chinese enterprises — particularly in basic goods sectors such as soy, meat, iron, steel, copper and oil — have initiated activities in Latin America, either through direct investment or by buying products and/or businesses. To a lesser degree, Latin American enterprises — such as Gruma, Modelo, Embraer, Marco Polo and Embraco — have introduced themselves in China. [Full Text]

  Enrique Dussel Peters is coordinator of the China/Mexico Studies Center at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

  » Read more
  • September 28, 2007 10:34 PM

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