China's growing interest in Latin America and its implications

Abstract

China's interest in Latin America has grown tremendously in the past few years. Chinese trade and investment in Latin America have soared since the late 1990s. This article examines goals, strategies, and prospects of China's quest for influence in Latin America and its implications. The author concludes that China has moved cautiously from a radical to a more pragmatic approach to achieve its goals in Latin America. Despite its disagreements with the United States about many issues, Beijing has adopted a low-key approach and managed to avoid any public confrontation with the United States in the Western Hemisphere. So far China is still a long way from posing a serious threat to the interests of the United States in the region.

Key words:

• China
• Latin America
• foreign policy

Acknowledgements

This study is supported by a faculty development grant from Merrimack College. An earlier version of the paper was presented at the Association for Asian Studies annual meeting held in San Francisco in April 2006. I would like to thank for Curtis Martin, Baogang Guo, Xiaogang Deng, Victoria Zhuang, and reviewers for their valuable comments on earlier versions of this paper.

Notes

¹In the Chinese official statistics, Latin America consists of Latin America and countries and islands in the Caribbean as well.

²For detail, see Robert Devlin, Antoni Estevadeordal, and Andres Rodriguez (ed.), The Emergence of China: Opportunities and Challenges for Latin America and the Caribbean (Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP 2006).

³Personal interview at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing in 2006.

⁴For the Chinese perspective on the evolution of the PRC's relations with Latin America, see Minde Li, Latinmeizhou he zhongla guanxi: xianzai yu weilai[Latin America and Sino-Latin American Relations: Today and Tomorrow] (Beijing: Shishi Chubanshe 2001).

⁵Loro Horta, ‘A Rising Dragon in Blue’, Asian Times, 7 March 2007, available at <www.atimes.com/atimes/China/IC07Ad01.html>.

⁶‘The Panama Canal Expansion’, Latin America-Asia Review (Nov. 2006), 3.

⁷June Teufel Dreyer, ‘From China with Love: P.R.C. Overtures in Latin America’, Brown Journal of World Affairs 12/2 (Winter/Spring 2006), 91.

⁸Pablo Bachelet, ‘China's Latin Influence Is Growing, General Says’, Miami Herald, 10 March 2005.

⁹Stephen Johnson, ‘Balancing China's Growing Influence in Latin America’, Heritage Foundation, Backgrounder#1888 (24 Oct. 2005).

¹⁰Cynthia A. Watson, ‘Latin America Views the Changing Security Environment’, available at <www.ndu.edu/inss/symposia/pacific99/watson.html>.

¹¹Jorge Domínguez, ‘China's Relations with Latin America: Shared Gains, Asymmetric Hopes’, Inter-American Dialogue Working Paper Harvard Univ., June 2006, 8.

¹²Domínguez, ‘China's Relations with Latin America’, 8.

¹³Denny Roy, ‘Rising China and U.S. Interests: Inevitable vs. Contingent Hazards’, Orbis, A Journal of World Affairs 47/1 (Winter 2003), 131.

¹⁴‘The Real China Threat’, Boston Globe, 7 March 2007, A8.

¹⁵Alexei Barrionuevo and José de Córdoba, ‘Passing the Torch: For Aging Castro, Chávez Emerges as a Crucial Crutch’, Wall Street Journal, 2 Feb. 2004, A1.

¹⁶‘The Panama Canal Expansion’, 3.

¹⁷For detail, see He Li, ‘Rivalry between Taiwan and China in Latin America’, Journal of Chinese Political Science 10/2 (Fall 2005), 77–102.

¹⁸Guillermo R. Delamer, Lyle J. Goldstein, Jorge Eduardo Malena, and Gabriela E. Porn, ‘Chinese Interests in Latin America’, in Paul D. Taylor (ed.), Latin American Security Challenges (Newport, RI: Naval War College 2004), 95.

¹⁹For detailed discussion on the topic, see Justin Yifu Lin, Fang Cai, and Zhou Li, China Miracle: Development Strategy and Economic Reform (Hong Kong: The Chinese UP, rev. ed. 2003) and David Hale and Lyric Hughes Hale, ‘China Takes Off’, Foreign Affairs 82/6 (Nov.–Dec. 2003), 37–53.

²⁰World Bank, China Engaged: Integration with the Global Economy (Washington DC.: World Bank 1997).

²¹ World Development Report, 2007 (New York: OUP, 2007), Table 1.

²²When joining the World Trade Organization, China agreed that it would be recognized as a non-market economy within 15 years of its entry. Owing to this status, many countries have turned anti-dumping measures into a means of trade protectionism against China; the PRC has become the world's largest anti-dumping target. Consequently, China has made the market economy status issue as one of the highest priority on its economic agenda. ‘Market Economy Status on Agenda’, China Daily, 21 April 2004, available at <www.china.org.cn> (accessed 24 Nov. 2004).

²³For extended discussion on the topic, see Philip Andrews-Speed, Xuanli Liao, and Roland Dannreuther, The Strategic Implications of China's Energy Needs (New York: OUP 2002), 34.

²⁴Ben Dummett, ‘Chinese Firms to Pay $1.42 Billion for EnCana Oil Assets in Ecuador’, Wall Street Journal, 14 Sept. 2005.

²⁵Ministry of Commerce (China) <http://zhs.mofcom.gov.cn/aarticle/Nocategory/200702/20070204346971.html>.

²⁶Ministry of Commerce, China Customs Statistics.

²⁷Shixue Jiang, ‘China, Latin America, and the Developing World’, in Peter H. Smith Kotaro Horisaka, and Shoji Nishijima (eds.), East Asia and Latin America: The Unlikely Alliance (Lanham, MD: Roman & Littlefield 2003), 320.

²⁸Ministry of Commerce (China), <http://hzs.mofcom.gov.cn/accessory/200609/1157678176299.pdf>.

²⁹Lawrence Brainard and Jonathan Fenby, ‘Chinese Takeout’, Wall Street Journal, 20 Jan. 2007.

³⁰Saul Landau, ‘Chinese Influence on the Rise in Latin America’, 23 June 2005, available at <www.fpif.org>.

³¹Jiang Shixue, ‘Latin America: China's Perspective’, available at <www.latinbusinesschronicle.com/reports/opinion/050806/china.htm>.

³²Vinod Sreeharsh, ‘Chinese-Latin American Trade Tango Is Still a Clumsy Match’, New America Media, 3 Nov. 2005, available at <http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=15e273df07b0e0f1e82bcd34dc3a2caf>.

³³David J. Lynch, ‘China's Growing Pull Puts Brazil in a Bind’, USA Today, 21 March 2006.

³⁴William Ratliff, ‘Beijing's Pragmatism Meets Hugo Chávez’, Brown Journal of World Affairs 12/2 (Winter/Spring 2006), 78.

³⁵Andres Oppenheimer, ‘China's Foray into Latin America May be Mixed Blessing for Region’, Miami Herald, 24 Feb. 2005.

³⁶Daniel P. Erikson and Adam Minson, ‘The Caribbean: Democracy Adrift?’Journal of Democracy 16/4 (2005), 169.

³⁷For detail, see Wolfgang Georg Arlt, China's Outbound Tourism (London: Routledge 2006).

³⁸‘Outbound Traveling Jumps 50-Fold in 20 Years’, China Daily, available at <http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-02/04/content_4133422.htm>.

³⁹The concept of ‘Beijing Consensus’ was first presented by Joshua Ramo. For detail, see Joshua Ramo, The Beijing Consensus (London: Foreign Policy Centre 2004).

⁴⁰He Li, ‘China's Path of Economic Reform and Its Implications’, Asian Affairs: An American Review 31/4 (Winter 2004), 195–211.

⁴¹‘Chinese Lesson’ refers to China's experience in adopting the capitalist mechanism and integrating into the world economy while retaining the Communist Party's control over the society.

⁴²On the significance of the ‘Chinese model’ as a plausible alternative to transition for Fidel Castro's successors, see William Ratliff, China's “Lessons” for Cuba's Transition? (University of Miami: Cuba Transition Project, Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies 2004), available at <http://ctp.iccas.miami.edu>.

⁴³For detail, see Ratliff, China's “Lessons” for Cuba's Transition.

⁴⁴‘Brazil Presidential Candidates Look to China's Economic Model’, People's Daily, available at <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200610/17/text20061017_312614.html>.

⁴⁵Joshua Kurlantzick, ‘China's Charm Offensive’, Commentary (Oct. 2006), 37.

⁴⁶Joshua Kurlantzick, ‘China's Latin Leap Forward’, World Policy Journal 23/3 (Fall 2006), 36.

⁴⁷David M. Lampton, ‘The Faces of Chinese Power’, Foreign Affairs 86/1 (Jan./Feb. 2007), 124.

⁴⁸Peter Hakim, ‘Is Washington Losing Latin America?’Foreign Affairs 85/1 (Jan./Feb. 2006), 46.

⁴⁹‘Culture Minister on China's Foreign Exchange’, People's Daily, 11 Dec. 2004, available at <http://english.people.com.cn/200412/21/eng20041221_168135.html>.

⁵⁰Kurlantzick, ‘China's Latin Leap Forward’, 37.

⁵¹Raúl Prebisch (1901–86) was an Argentine economist. He served as the founding secretary-general of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and was credited with having developed the ‘dependency’ thesis of economic development theory.

⁵²See, for example, Eric Heginbotham, ‘The Latin Americanization of China’, Current History 103/676 (Sept. 2004), 256–61.

⁵³‘Address by Prime Minister of Jamaica P.J. Patterson at Opening Ceremony China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Forum’, Jamaica Information Service, 4 Feb. 2005. See <www.jis.gov.jm>.

⁵⁴Gonzalo S. Paz, ‘Rising China's “Offensive” in Latin America and the U.S. Reaction’, Asian Perspective 30/4 (2006), 99.

⁵⁵Quoted from Gal Luft, ‘In Search of Crude China Goes to the Americas’, Institute for the Analysis of Global Security: Energy Security, 18 Jan. 2005, available at <www.iags.org/n0118041.htm>.

⁵⁶Kerry Dumbaugh and Mark P. Sullivan, ‘China's Growing Interest in Latin America’, Congressional Research Service, 20 April 2005, 2, available at <www.milnet.com/archives/China-Latin-America-7B6C19.pdf> (accessed 18 Oct. 2005).

⁵⁷‘Beijing Reassures Latin America over Metals Exploitation Fears’, The Standard, 8 Dec. 2005, available at <http://thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=2&art_id=7352&sid=5812361&con_type=1&d_str=20051208>.

⁵⁸‘Challenge from China’, Latin America-Asia Review (Nov. 2006), 6.

⁵⁹For the Chinese economic competition with the Caribbean countries, see Eduardo Gitli and Randall Arce, ‘The WTO Entry of China and Its Impact on the Countries of the Caribbean Basin’, CEPAL Review 74 (Aug. 2001), 83–101.

⁶⁰Hakim, ‘Is Washington Losing Latin America?’ 46.

⁶¹Ibid., 45.

⁶²R. Evan Ellis, U.S. National Security Implications of Chinese Involvement in Latin America (June 2005) available at <http://carlisle.army.mil/ssi>.

⁶³Evan S. Medeiros and M. Talor Fravel, ‘China's New Diplomacy’, Foreign Affairs 82/6 (Nov.–Dec. 2003), 22.

⁶⁴Yong Deng and Thomas G. Moore, ‘China Views Globalization: Towards a New Great Power Politics?’Washington Quarterly 27/3 (Summer 2004), 118.

⁶⁵Personal interview at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing in 2006.

⁶⁶See John Pomfret, ‘China Ponders New Rules of “Unrestricted War”’, Washington Post, 8 Aug. 1999, A1.

⁶⁷Shulong Chu, ‘China's Foreign Strategy during the Period of Building a Relatively Wealthy Society’, Shijie jingji yu guojizhengzhi[World Economics and International Politics], 276 (Aug. 2003), 13.

⁶⁸Fred Bergsten, Bates Gill, Nicholas R. Lardy, and Derek Mitchell, China: The Balance Sheet–What the World Needs to Know Now about the Emerging Superpower (New York: Public Affairs 2006), 122.

⁶⁹ Qingnian cankao, available at http://finance.people.com.cn/GB/42773/4377672.html.

⁷⁰Juan Forero, ‘China's Oil Diplomacy in Latin America’, New York Times, 1 March 2005.

⁷¹‘Watching Chávez: The World Should Resist Venezuela's Global Ambitions’, Financial Times, 25 Aug. 2006.

⁷²Personal interview at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing in May 2006.

⁷³Roy, ‘Rising China and US Interests’, 132.

⁷⁴Wenran Jiang, ‘China's Energy Engagement with Latin America’, China Brief 6/16 (2 Aug. 2006) <http://jamestown.org/print_friendly.php?volume_id=415&issue_id=3821&article_id=2371339>.

⁷⁵See US International Trade Administration, ‘US Aggregate Foreign Trade Data’, Table 6 and Table 7, at <www.ita.doc.gov/td/industry/otea/usfth/tabcon.html> (18 Sept. 2005).

⁷⁶ Nanfengchuang, 8 May 2006, <www.nfcmag.com/ReadNews.asp?NewsID=5012>.

⁷⁷Dominguez, ‘China's Relations with Latin America’.

⁷⁸Comment by Rodrigo Maciel at the panel ‘Enter the Dragon? China's Presence in Latin America’ at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington DC on 21 Feb. 2007.

⁷⁹Mary Anastasia O'Grady, ‘Americas: The Middle Kingdom in Latin America’, Wall Street Journal, 3 Sept. 2004.