China Launches Proxy War Against Trump
China Launches Proxy War Against Trump
There’s a new urgency from China to forge a stronger political push in Latin America as Trump raises questions about the independence of Taiwan, says AS/COA’s Eric Farnsworth.
Shortly after President-elect Donald Trump angered China with what they saw as a rogue call to its adversaries in Taiwan, the powerful communist nation is making moves to establish official ties with the Dominican Republic as it looks for more friends in Latin America who support its national interests.
Once content to stick primarily to economic opportunities in Latin America, China is forging a stronger political push in the region. Its efforts to establish diplomatic relations with the Dominican Republic may be considered a small thing, but the pointed action could grow into an all-out proxy war with China if other Latin American countries follow, said Jorge Guajardo, Mexico’s former ambassador to China.
“It’s a shot across the bow from China saying, ‘We won’t go quietly on the Taiwan issue, and we can get allies in other parts of the world that used to be in your sphere,’” Guajardo said in an interview.
Latin America has found itself in the middle of a sensitive political skirmish between Trump and China, one that goes beyond U.S. or China interests in Latin America and centers on deeper, more sensitive issues in Asia over Taiwan’s independence....
...China’s interest in Latin America is not new. Beijing has been building up its presence in Latin American and Caribbean states for years. But the focus has largely been economic and the politics were underplayed, said Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Washington-based Council of the Americas....
