Chinas Relations with Latin America: Issues, Policy, Strategies, and Implications

Abstract

Chinas presence in Latin America has been visible and active to the extent that it has raised growing concerns in the policy-making community in the United States. American concerns can be attributed to the lack of clarity about Chinese motivations. Although China proclaims its motives to be apolitical and all economics, however, it has been expanding the relations into such areas of concerns as in military and security areas in the name of Third World or developing countries. In addition, Chinese motives behind its desire to improve political ties with the regional states are justified with their shared outlook of the world from anti-imperialism, anti-colonialism to the needs for new international order. Until recently, Chinas relations with Latin America had remained somewhat distant not only for geographical reasons, but also for political reasons. Chinas isolation in the 1960s and 1970s kept the relationship literally idle, and the opening of the country emphasized development of relations with the West, thereby naturally neglecting the relations with developing countries including the Latin American states. To overcome this, China has employed a number of strategies (e.g. summit diplomacy, bilateral approaches, multilateral cooperation, and going-out (zouchuqu). These strategies prove that Chinas relationship with Latin America are at a rebuilding stage, and that its influence in the region is still marginal. Chinas growing presence will neither entail political or security ramifications to the region nor be a challenge to the US predominance yet.