Advancing Autonomy? Chinese Influence on Regional Governance in Latin America

China in Latin America Then and Now: A Systemic Constructivist Analysis of China’s Foreign Policy

“…A study of the votes cast by Latin American countries in the United Nations (UN) shows that China’s growing economic ties with Latin America are not leading to a significant increase of its political influences over there: while Latin American countries might align with China on economic issues, there is no significant Sino–Latin American alignment on security and humanitarian issues (Wang, 2015). In addition, it is found that, although China has been seeking to increase its political and economic role in those Latin American countries (like Brazil) that have more trade with and more FDI from China (as compared to the US) and share a similar interest with China in multi-polar global governance (as opposed to American unipolarity), it prefers to do so in a “low-key and non-confrontational manner” vis-à-vis the US (Liang, 2019: 441–446) and prefers to advocate a “liberal economic agenda” in the region that is, to a great extent, promoted by the US as well (Legler et al, 2020: 28–29). Also, according to some research on China’s motivations of increasing its presence in Latin America, the major goal of China is to promote the so-called South–South Cooperation for the development of the Third World and to create a peaceful, China-friendly international environment for its own national development, all of which have nothing to do with challenging the US in its “backyard” (Harris, 2015a; Jiang, 2006).…”

“…More specifically, while its goal was very political and internationally oriented before (as demonstrated by its effort to export communist revolutions to the region), it is now much more economical than political and is domestically oriented to a very great extent. As prior research has revealed, China’s policy goal towards Latin America today is largely about securing the commodity supply of energy and food from the region, as well as the markets over there, to sustain China’s own domestic economic growth (Legler et al, 2020; Liang, 2019; Wise and Ching, 2018). By exploring the aforementioned puzzle and examining the evolution of China’s policy goal towards Latin America, we can not only know the change and continuity of Sino–Latin American relations but also understand the development of China’s foreign relations in general as a rising power in the international system.…”

“…More specifically, China’s policy goal towards Latin America today is much more economical than political and is more about promoting and sustaining its own domestic development than challenging and overthrowing the US hegemon. As many observers have found, “geopolitics” is no longer a major concern for China’s policy towards Latin America, and it is Latin America’s natural resources and markets that are driving China to strengthen its relations with the region today (Legler et al, 2020; Liang, 2019; Wise and Ching, 2018).…”

“…This is a key element of the so-called Bandung Spirit derived from the Bandung Conference in 1955, where South–South Cooperation was emphasised and China’s Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence were included in its resolution. Since then, China has been depicting its relations with Latin America (and the “Global South” in general) as South–South relations and enthusiastically publicising their shared memories of being repressed by the colonial/imperialist powers and then fighting their way to become independent from those unwanted foreign influences (Bernal-Meza, 2020b; Johnson, 1970; Legler et al, 2020). However, although the two sides are still bound to each other today by that “Bandung Spirit” of South–South cooperation and anti-hegemonic tradition, the meaning of that spirit has changed to China since the late 1970s.…”

“…Here, it is worth noting that, if China still has a revolutionary revisionist goal against the hegemonic powers of the international system, we should be able to observe China's effort to build an anti-US bloc in Latin America like its effort to create an anti-imperialism united front in the region before the late 1970s. The fact, however, is that China has been trying to strengthen its relations with not only the Latin American countries that are not satisfied with the US influence over the region (like Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, and Venezuela) but also those that continue to maintain strong relations with the US (like Chile, Mexico, and Peru) (Legler et al, 2020). Also, while China has been increasing its ties with the regional organisations that exclude the US (like CELAC), it is still developing links with those that include the US (like the Organisation of American States) (Legler et al, 2020).…”