China and the Americas: Risks and Rewards
China and the Americas: Risks and Rewards
“A region that’s in need is most likely to seek help and support from where they can find, and China has seen opportunity here," said the COA vice president at a Santa Fe World Affairs Forum event.
Council of the Americas Vice President Eric Farnsworth spoke in a Santa Fe World Affairs Forum webinar on why the United States has warned emerging markets worldwide of the risks and implications of economic and political linkages with Beijing, and what policy makers, observers, and citizens need to know about China’s continued regional embrace.
Farnsworth laid out the Chinese-Latin American relationship as a less-than-20-year trajectory that has made China a top trade partner in the region. The pandemic's impact on this relationship is major, too. According to Farnsworth, "If you have a region that is hurting—that was even before the pandemic not doing well—and you have a United States that has been … prioritizing our own efforts to come out of the pandemic, we can see that a vacuum has been created across the region, and a region that’s in need is most likely to seek help and support from where they can find it, and China has seen opportunity here."
Latin America, says Farnsworth, is part of a broader global Chinese engagement strategy. But from looking to the Americas for trade commodities and investment, China has presented the region with solutions to many problems such as infrastructure development and technology supplies. As the COA vice president put it, why wouldn't Latin America seek support from another region that's offering help?
