Pure Life, or Pure Lies?
Pure Life, or Pure Lies?
Suriname's Pres in Beijing, China's take on Ecuador-Mexico fiasco, senior PRC leader in Bahamas, and Canada election interference. Plus: Why Bolivia trolled Taiwan after its earthquake
Welcome to Chaufa, a China-Western Hemisphere Newsletter by CPSI.
Today’s Edition covers April 1 to April 14.
The Top 5 Stories:
Suriname’s President Santokhi is visiting the PRC to meet with President Xi and Chinese business officials. The two sides signed agreements on trade and investment, green development, digital economy, and education. (Xinhua) (Global Times)
Notably, none of the meeting press releases, and only the Joint Statement, mentioned Suriname’s debt renegotiation with China. This had been a major issue in the relationship over the past couple of years, as at one point China’s debt to the China Export-Import Bank represented 17% of the country’s GDP.
U.S. SOUTHCOM Commander Laura Richardson went on a three-day trip to Argentina, where she expressed concern about the alleged Chinese space base in Neuquén and a deep-sea port project in Patagonia. Afterward, the Buenos Aires Times reported that Milei’s administration was considering reviewing the contracts that allowed the PRC the rights to the base’s lands and physically inspecting the surroundings of the Neuquén facilities.
In an indication of how reviewing (or ultimately revoking) the PRC’s access to sensitive geographical facilities in Argentina could damage broader ties, the Chinese Embassy said that Commander Richardson’s concerns were “contrary to the facts, absurd, and lacking even the most basic respect for China and Argentina.” (Global Times)
China took a relatively neutral stance regarding Ecuador’s illegal invasion of the Mexican Embassy, with the PRC foreign ministry spokesman simply saying that it hoped the two “countries can resolve their differences guided by the principle of mutual respect.” (Prensa Latina)
By contrast, countries across the region and around the world took a firm stance against Ecuador. Nicaragua suspended diplomatic ties, while countries of different ideological persuasions, including the United States, Brazil, Venezuela, Chile, and Argentina, all condemned the Noboa administration’s actions.
The Chairman of the National People’s Congress (NPC), Zhao Leji, met with the Bahamas’s Speaker of the House and President of the Senate in Beijing on April 9 to discuss people-to-people exchanges, as well as the One China Principle, economic and social engagement, and governance cooperation. (Xinhua)
Cooperation between the two countries’ legislatures is nothing new – in 2023, the NPC’s Vice Chairman, Xiao Jie, visited the Bahamas, while back in 2009 a former Chair of the NPC, Wu Bangguo, pledged to increase bilateral exchanges during an official exchange with the Caribbean country.
At the same time, PM Davis thanked the PRC for its $36 million in assistance in repairing the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium at a press conference on the stadium’s renovation.
An official probe by the Canadian intelligence services found that China had “clandestinely and deceptively interfered” in the 2019 and 2021 elections. However, Trudeau said that he had been told that neither election was swayed by the interference.
Concerns about Chinese influence in Canada’s elections are longstanding and a major irritant in Canada’s bilateral relations with the PRC. The country has an ongoing, independent investigation led by a Quebecois judge into the matter, while a Liberal MP has testified that Beijing’s embassy bussed in Chinese students to vote for him in a party election.
Core Brief
Why Bolivia’s foreign ministry would troll Taiwan after its massive earthquake
Earlier this month, Taiwan experienced its worst earthquake in more than two decades, killing roughly a dozen people and trapping hundreds. Although most Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries declined to offer condolences to the island nation, Bolivia, a country known for its unusually strong One China stance, offered to help the island in the most inflammatory way possible.
In an X post and a Facebook post, Bolivia’s foreign ministry expressed “solidarity… in the face of the loss of life and severe material damage caused by a large earthquake that occurred in recent hours off the coast of Taiwan.” However, rather than issuing a statement of solidarity to the people of Taiwan and their democratically-elected government, the Andean nation inflammatorily directed its remarks to Taiwan’s greatest security threat: the People’s Republic of China.
At first glance, a land-locked country with a population half the size of Taiwan seems like an unlikely antagonist to the island during one of its worst tragedies in recent history. But Bolivia’s two decades of political alignment with China, including with the One China Principle, makes it a clear candidate to win the “most extreme response to Taiwan’s tragedy” award.
Unlike most South American countries, economic dependency has never really been the driver of bilateral relations. In 2022, China imported less than 5% of Bolivia’s exports, making it only the country’s 7th largest trading partner. Aside from being a key source of tin, Bolivia is a negligible economic partner for the PRC, making up less than 0.1% of its trade flows. Relatedly, despite some high-level projects and cooperation like the Oruro Zinc Mine and the recent currency swap, taken from a broader perspective, scholars have repeatedly shown that Chinese capital has never been a major source of Bolivia’s finance or investment.
Without economic ties to bind the countries together, Bolivia has sought friendship through other issues Though the two nations only have a Strategic Partnership – rather than the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of countries like Venezuela, Argentina, or Brazil – their political and military cooperation has long been the central axis of their friendship.
The two countries have over 400 cooperation agreements, and during his presidency, Evo Morales traveled to China both during the first week of his presidency and then at least four more times.1 Much like Venezuela, Bolivia has also benefited from numerous military sales and donations, including six Chinese-made K-8 aircraft. And given how relatively minor Chinese trade flows are for Bolivia, even the famous yuan trade deal was a political act that generated global headlines that put China and other countries in a favorable light while undermining the United States.
It's in this context of the politically-driven relationship that Bolivia’s foreign ministry decided to insult Taiwan following its 7.4 magnitude earthquake. As the Carnegie Endowment has painstakingly detailed, Bolivia is one of just four Latin American countries – and the only South American nation – to officially stake out a One China Policy that aligns almost completely with the PRC’s One China Principle.2 This strict alignment on one of the PRC’s most sensitive issues, as well as acting as a “wolf warrior” in situations like the recent earthquake, gives Chinese diplomats confidence that Bolivia is a strong political ally.
A deeper dive into the Surinamese president’s recent trip to Beijing
As mentioned above, Suriname’s leader Chan Santokhi is on a state visit to China from April 11-17. This marks the first visit for a Surinamese president since 2019, as well as Santokhi’s first time traveling to the PRC as president.
Much like Dominica’s and Antigua and Barbuda’s leaders’ recent trips to China, President Santokhi met with President Xi and Premier Li3 and signed several cooperation agreements. These MOUs covered a wide range of areas,4 including digital economy, green development, education, and trade and investment.
The two sides also released a joint statement that covered every area of China’s planned cooperation areas (political, economic, social, cultural, and multilateral) with Latin America and the Caribbean from its 2016 White Paper, aside from military and security ties. Suriname also took a very strong stance on Taiwan in the statement by “unswervingly” supporting not only the “One China Principle,” but also China’s pursuit of “national reunification.”
This visit followed many of the similar lines as Suriname’s CARICOM neighbors, but notable differences in the MOU topics show some unique areas for Sino-Surinamese bilateral ties. For example, when considering the topics of the MOUs, some like climate-focused cooperation and trade and investment (which often is covered by the BRI and GDI) were mentioned in the other recent Xi-Caribbean leader meetings. However, unlike Browne and Skerrit, Suriname apparently signed an agreement focused on digital cooperation, while PRC releases didn’t refer to other issues like healthcare, media, or agriculture cooperation.
The topics of MOUs signed during Caribbean leaders’ visits to China in 2024
The Roundup
Politics and Society
China’s embassy in Costa Rica “vigorously protested” recent U.S. cooperation with the Central American country on protecting its telecommunications network from Chinese products by calling recent U.S. statements “pure lies.”
In an interview with Ahora El Pueblo, China’s new ambassador to Bolivia identified the Oruro zinc refinery project, lithium extraction, and security cooperation as bilateral engagement priorities.
Senior CCP leader Li Xi met with the head of Brazil’s ruling Workers Party in Beijing on April 10 to “enhance political mutual trust, deepen strategic cooperation, and promote the upgrading of China-Brazil comprehensive strategic partnership.” (Xinhua)
El Salvador’s Vice President was in Beijing last week to discuss investment, diplomatic, and other economic cooperation, while the Vice Foreign Minister met with her counterpart for the first Political Consultation Meeting.
A vice minister from China’s urban-rural development ministry traveled to Panama to discuss possible solar panel installation collaboration.
Investment, infrastructure, and finance
China State Grid is planning to invest nearly $40 billion in Brazil’s electricity infrastructure, according to Brazil’s energy minister who recently met with the company’s representatives.
Great Wall Motors will finalize plans and announce a site for a new plant in Mexico later this year, while BYD also publicized that it will make a similar announcement about a new plant in the country in the coming weeks.
BYD representatives also sat down with Panama’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MICI) to discuss possible expansion plans.
After Peru recently rolled back Cosco’s exclusive rights to the nearly-finished Port of Chancay, the Chinese consortium threatened that it would resort to international arbitration against the country
Nicaragua’s congress approved $27 million in financing from China CAMC Engineering to “allow state gas company Enigas to design, build, and put into operation three liquid petroleum gas (LPG) storage spheres.”
Owing to his recent trip to the PRC, Dominica’s PM said in a press conference that his country would receive about $10 million in “budget support” from Beijing.
Venezuela’s foreign minister and the governor of La Guiara discussed progress on a “special economic zone” in the state with Beijing’s ambassador.
Trade and Technology
Prensa Latina reports that Air China is expected to restart its flights to Cuba with its direct Beijing-Havana route on May 17.
After concluding an early harvest agreement last month, Honduran officials expect to finish FTA negotiations with China by June.
Chile’s lower house of congress passed a bill urging the president to take action, including anti-dumping tariffs, against Chinese steel imports to protect Cap SA, the country’s only steelmaker.
Regarding the same issue, Infobae and the Wall Street Journal are reporting that Latin American government officials and business leaders are expressing concern about a surge in Chinese exports, especially in Brazil and Chile.
In response, China’s ambassador to Santiago gave a tense interview to La Tercera, where he noted that “helping Chinese companies to operate and cooperate in Chile… is one of my main responsibilities.” The statement also comes in the context of an escalating dispute between Tianqi Lithium and Chile’s SQM.
Due to “excessive sulfite levels”, China’s customs authority revealed that it had rejected 43 shrimp shipments from Ecuador in the first two months of this year.
Shrimp is a major Ecuadorian export for China, with its $4.3 billion in shipments making up nearly 70% of Ecuador’s exports to the PRC in 2022.
Barbados signed an agreement with the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) on a donation of electric buses to the Caribbean nation.
CIDCA’s president also discussed other issues like the Bridgetown Initiative, the GDI & BRI, and cultural exchanges with the Barbadian foreign minister.
Taiwan
Every one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies (minus Haiti) expressed concern for the country following its recent 7.2 magnitude earthquake. However, Mexico was the only LAC government without official diplomatic relations to express support for Taiwan’s people following the natural disaster.
By comparison, countries around the world that lack diplomatic relations, including Canada, India, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, sent condolences and assistance to Taiwan following the natural disaster.
USAID and Taiwan’s foreign aid agency (ICDF) signed an agreement on expanding cooperation in St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, & St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Guatemala and Belize will benefit from a series of newly-revealed joint Taiwan- Central American Integration System (SICA) projects “to promote sustainable development, tourism and energy transition projects.”
A congressional delegation from Paraguay led by Senate President Silvio Adalberto Ovelar Benitez arrived in Taipei on April 14 “to promote parliamentary exchanges between the two countries and gain a better understanding of Taiwan's political, economic, and technological advancements.”
Meanwhile, 24 Taiwanese companies in the food and beverage, medical device, information technology, and textiles sectors recently traveled to Paraguay for the “Taiwan Trade Mission to Latin America 2024.”
In a sign of continued positive ties, the President of Guatemala, Bernardo Arevalo, visited the opening of the Taiwan-funded Hospital San Juan de Dios in Guatemala City which will specialize in post-natal and child care.
Taiwan evacuated three members of its technical mission in Haiti.
Culture and Society
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas said in an interview that the U.S. was in negotiations with China to increase “the number of Chinese nationals deported from the United States,” including those who illegally come over the U.S.-Mexico border.
The interview comes as Voice of America reported on the hardships Chinese migrants and refugees faced after arriving in the United States.
Cuba received a donation of more than 20,400 tons of rice from China days as part of a broader MOU signing that included plans to build new solar panel parks in the country. This comes as President Diaz-Canel sat down with the president of China's International Development Cooperation Agency Luo Zhaohui.
Analysis and Opinion
The Inter-American Dialogue’s Latin American Advisor interviewed several experts on whether Guatemala will be able to successfully navigate and maintain relations with Taipei while pursuing increased trade with China.
The Economist had a piece on how China’s growing green technology exports to Latin America and the Caribbean are causing concern both in the region and in the United States.
Farah Stockman, writing for the New York Times, reported on how “Costa Rica is crucial to the gargantuan U.S. effort to reduce dependence on microchips from China,” possibly making it the “Silicon Valley of Latin America.”
Writing in The Diplomat, Alonso Illueca argues that Panama is entering a new phase in its relationship with the PRC following Beijing’s new ambassador’s arrival in Panama City.
The Financial Times Editorial Board has a new editorial out about how the U.S. Congress’s newly released Americas Act could be a major new tool in “competing” with China in the Western Hemisphere.
Bloomberg published a story by Jonathan Gilbert and Manuela Tobias on how Javier Milei has found it difficult to reduce Argentina’s dependence on China, with the new president “taking a far more pragmatic tone” than his campaign rhetoric.
However, Patricio Giusto writes in The Diplomat that China’s relationship with Argentina is at its worst point in modern history given the Milei Administration’s policy orientation.
The Wilson Center published a new report (in Spanish) by Juliana González Jáuregui on China’s growing presence in Argentina’s lithium sector.
The Inter-American Dialogue held an event on China’s “new infrastructure” in Latin America and the Caribbean with the Brazil-China Business Council (CEBC).
That’s it for now, see you again in two weeks!
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However, it appears that current president Arce has yet to travel to the PRC. Presidents Arce and Xi did speak on the phone in 2021.
For those not familiar with the “policy” versus the “principle”, the PRC has a “One China Principle” that states that “There is but one China in the world, Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory, and the Government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China.” This extreme stance contrasts with most countries, which take an ambiguous stance on the idea of “One China” and whether they “acknowledge”, “recognize”, or “respects” the PRC’s position on Taiwan’s part of that “One China.” Put simply, One China Policies tend to give Taiwan more wiggle room as a potential independent state.
He also met with senior CCP official and head of the CPPCC, Wang Huning. It doesn’t appear that either of Dominica’s or A&B’s PMs met with Wang on their trip; rather, they met with other senior CCP officials like the head of the National People’s Congress Zhao Leji.
Press releases suggest that there may have been other issues touched on in the agreements. These may be revealed later, but at the moment, the six issues listed below are the only ones identified by the Chinese side.