Great Asymmetries
Great Asymmetries
Beijing on Venezuela's election, Panama reconsiders PRC trade ties, and Barbados harvests its pilot rice project. Plus, who are China's diplomats in the Caribbean?
Welcome to Chaufa, a China-Western Hemisphere Newsletter by CPSI.
Today’s edition covers July 22 to August 4.
Listen on Spotify or read the full edition below:
The Top 5 Stories:
Unlike most countries in the Western Hemisphere, Europe, and Asia that have raised questions about discrepancies in Venezuela’s electoral results, the PRC congratulated Nicholas Maduro on winning Venezuela’s presidential elections.
Panamanian president José Raúl Mulino is considering a report by his trade ministry on restarting FTA negotiations with China. He specifically called for special economic zones for agricultural projects, such as rice, to increase agricultural exports to the PRC.
China and Panama launched FTA negotiations in early 2018 just six months after the two sides established formal diplomatic relations. However, negotiations stalled after the fifth round of negotiations in 2019. Though in 2022 then-President Cortizo sought to restart negotiations, an agreement was never finalized.
Taiwan hosted dozens on legislators from around the world for the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) summit, including from Bolivia and Colombia. However, the PRC reportedly attempted to intimidate many of the legislators from traveling to Taiwan.
Representatives from Uruguay, and Canada, as well as Taiwan’s diplomatic partner Paraguay, also attended the meeting in Taipei. Currently, unlike Colombia and Canada, Uruguay and Bolivia both lack informal Taiwanese diplomatic missions in their countries. Because of this, the meeting gave the Taiwanese a valuable opportunity to establish connections with these two countries.
China and Honduras concluded the sixth round of FTA negotiations, which specifically focused on market access and rules of origin.
At the same time, the country’s economic minister commented that China’s economic capacity far exceeded Honduras, which meant that China would have to grant Honduras certain favorable conditions in the FTA.
Realizing a Chinese development assistance project, recently harvested three tons of less water-intensive rice as part of a trial project that aims to replace 25% of the country’s rice imports.
Currently, Barbados imports 4,600 tons of rice a year, meaning that the country would have to grow about 650 tons of rice per year to replace a quarter of its current imports.
Core Brief
Who does China send to the Caribbean?
Beijing currently has ambassadors in 11 different Caribbean countries (six other Caribbean countries have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan). Though the diplomats who lead these embassies hold vastly different backgrounds, in general the Caribbean appears to be a starter post for most senior foreign ministry officials as they move up in their career.
For context, most of the ambassadors are men (there are 8 male ambassadors and 3 women) and are in their 50s, with the average age being about 53.1 And while two of the ambassadors just started their terms in 2024, the average Chinese ambassador in the Caribbean has spent about three years in their post.
With one current ambassador having enjoyed a previous position as an ambassador to Somalia and another holding a variety of provincial-level posts in Shandong outside the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Chinese ambassadors in the Caribbean come from a variety of professional experiences.
However, most of the PRC’s diplomats appear to have little-to-no Caribbean experience before assuming their role as head of mission. Aside from Ambassador to the Dominican Republic Chen Luning (陈鲁宁), who was previously at the embassy in Havana, no current Chinese ambassador in the Caribbean has previously served in the region. Only Ambassador to Suriname Han Jing (韩镜) also served in a Caribbean-focused role when he worked in the MFA’s Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) Department. Otherwise, it’s the first time dealing with the Caribbean’s issues for most of these officials.
Additionally, ambassadorships in the Caribbean appear to be a starting senior role as diplomats advance along their careers. Many large and notable LAC countries like Chile and Mexico have ambassadors who have served as an ambassador abroad at least once before.2 By contrast, only one of the 11 current heads of mission in the Caribbean served as ambassador to another country (Ambassador to Grenada Wei Hongtian (韦宏添), who previously was ambassador to Somalia).
China is one of the only countries in the world with a full embassy in every Caribbean country with which it holds diplomatic relations. In part, this has motivated critiques about the U.S.’ ability to compete across the Caribbean. It has also prompted the United States to open two new embassies in the Eastern Caribbean. However, it is important to recognize that while Beijing has a notable on-the-ground presence across the region, it lacks expertise and experience in its most notable regional diplomats.
The Roundup
Politics and Security
Brazilian President Lula da Silva said that relations with China were essential for the country’s economic growth (namely through acquiring technology and exporting commodities) and that he sought an “infinitely greater” relationship with the PRC.
The remarks came as the Chinese foreign ministry made encouraging remarks regarding Brazil joining the BRI. (China.org)
China has a new ambassador to Cuba – Hua Xin – who recently gave a press conference and met with the head of Cuba’s parliament.
Beijing’s ambassador to Buenos Aires had a busy week, meeting with the Secretary-General of Argentina’s president (and sister to President Milei) Karina Milei, as well as with the governor of Buenos Aires province Maximiliano Pullaro.
A Canadian frigate, the HMS Montreal, conducted a routine transit through the Taiwan Strait after recently conducting bilateral operations with USS Ralph Johnson. This prompted the Chinese government to lodge a complaint with the Canadians.
Investment, infrastructure, and finance
Guyana signed an agreement with Power China to build an $8.6 million national control center for the country’s gas-to-energy project.
In an interview, the Director of Shandong’s American and Oceania Affairs Office also praised improving bilateral economic ties with Guyana.
While Peru and China signed an agreement on traditional medicine exchanges, local media reported that Chinese firm Sinohydro had not followed through on its commitments to build a hospital in Cusco.
Chinese EV company BYD filed regulatory notices in Canada that indicate the company’s intention to lobby lawmakers as it pursues plans to enter the Canadian market and possibly invest in new manufacturing facilities.
The filing came as China’s ambassador to Ottawa met with the Chinese-Canada Business Council. (PRCMFA)
Auto firm DFAC/Dongfeng is planning to invest up to $25 million in El Salvador as it looks to begin selling vehicles in the local market.
The Dominican Republic’s public works ministry hosted the Chinese ambassador to discuss how Chinese firms can assist in the country’s development.
Chinese firms DTW and Power Construction Corporation of China joined nine other Latin American and European firms to bid for the 25MW Punta del Tigre solar park in Uruguay.
Trade and Technology
Peru’s agriculture minister announced he would receive a Chinese delegation led by Zhao Zenglian, the PRC’s General Administration of Customs’ Vice Minister, on September 21 to finalize an agreement to expand the South American country’s fruit exports to the mainland. It is estimated that the agreement could lead to an additional $100 million in fruit exports.
A delegation led by the Vice Chairman of the Anhui Provincial Committee of the Chinese Political Consultative Conference sat down with Trinidad and Tobago’s trade minister to discuss provincial-Caribbean trade.
Nicaragua and China announced that they would inaugurate a new monthly direct maritime route from Corinto to Tianjin. The PRC claimed this route would operate within the framework of the “Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).”
The first shipment from China to Nicaragua will include “23 pieces of equipment and machinery that will be used for the reconstruction, expansion, and improvement project of the Punta Huete International Airport.”
Mexico’s Finance Minister, Rogelio Ramirez, complained that Sino-Mexican trade is not reciprocal and that the North American country ought to review PRC trade practices.
These comments came as the Deputy Mayor Dongguan (a city in Guangdong), Mrs. Li Jun, visited Mexico to discuss enhancing trade and investment ties.
Taiwan
A delegation from Taiwan’s state power company and the Overseas Investment and Development Corporation traveled to Paraguay to discuss revitalizing a Taiwanese investment park in the country. The visit comes a few week in advance of the first Taiwan-Paraguay technology forum.
St. Vincent’s prime minister signed an agreement with a Taiwanese Company, the OECC, to commence construction on an acute referral hospital at Arnos Vale.
Taipei is negotiating with Haiti to provide additional security equipment and whether to send back to technical mission members who had previously been evacuated.
Guatemala’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Julio Eduardo Orozco Pérez, is traveling to Taiwan to meet with local officials to discuss possible aid projects as well as sustainable cities and energy.
The Central American country’s interior minister also recently sat down with Taiwan’s ambassador to review possible security cooperation.
Taiwan and St. Kitts signed a technical cooperation agreement for a Mental Health Service System Enhancement Project. The two sides also announced they were moving forward with the second part of a recycling project.
Society and Culture
Both the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal have detailed stories of Chinese migrants seeking a better life in the United States by crossing the U.S.-Mexican border.
The latter notes how an increasing number of Chinese migrants are starting in both Suriname and Bolivia (which have low visa requirements for PRC nationals) to access existing migration routes.
Chinese Ambassador to Jamaica, Chen Daojiang, wrote an article for the Jamaica Gleaner reflecting on the Chinese diaspora’s 170 years in the Caribbean nation.
Analysis and Opinion
Danae Vilchez argues in Americas Quarterly that Nicaragua’s recognition of China over Taiwan has not paid off economically for the country.
The Mexican newspaper El Economista published an op-ed by Jimena Ortiz on how China will pose a challenge for the 2026 USMCA review.
Connor Pfeiffer and Ryan Berg have a new piece in Foreign Policy about how the United States should forge a “strategic partnership” with Mexico, as they argue that “a Mexico imbued with the theory of nonalignment and openly courting a greater Chinese presence would debilitate Washington’s ability to compete effectively with Beijing.”
Writing for Boston University, Rebecca Ray published the 2024 edition of the China-Latin America and the Caribbean Economic Bulletin. The report finds that the relationship is shifting towards three priority areas: “infrastructure, commodity exports, and renewable energy supply chains.”
The U.S. Institute of Peace published an article by Alvaro Mendez and Chris Alden on how “Panama and Ecuador should update and upgrade their China-related geostrategic knowledge and move away from business-centric approaches.”
That’s it for now, see you again in two weeks!
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At least for those with a known age – it was impossible to find the date of birth for four of the eleven ambassadors.
For example, Ambassador to Mexico Zhang Run (张润) was the Ambassador to the Dominican Republic before his current post, while Ambassador to Chile Niu Qingbao (牛清报) was the Ambassador to Jamaica before his current role.