May 13th, the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the China - Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Forum was held in Beijing. Notably, Brazilian President Lula, Colombian President Petro, and Chilean President Boric attended the conference specially to engage in high-level dialogue with China on deepening cooperation, demonstrating a strong willingness to promote long-term development of bilateral relations.
The timing of this forum had been determined well in advance. Coincidentally, positive results were achieved in the Sino-US trade talks last weekend. After China firmly countered the US and prompted its strategy adjustment, the active participation of Latin American countries at this moment carries profound implications. Just before his visit, Brazilian President Lula clearly stated that he admired China's resolute countermeasure against "reciprocal tariffs." Guancha Observer Network therefore conducted an interview with Wang Youming, a researcher at the China Institute of International Studies and an expert on Latin American issues.
Screenshot of President Lula of Brazil speaking at the China-Brazil Business Seminar.
Brazilian President Lula's visit to China has dual importance.
This visit aims to elevate Sino-Brazilian relations to a higher level. Currently, the relationship between the two countries has been elevated to a new height of building a community with a shared future. Wang Youming pointed out that this visit has dual importance.
Firstly, against the backdrop of the continuous rise of global trade protectionism, Brazil faces severe challenges. The recent imposition of a 25% high tariff by the US on Brazilian steel and aluminum products has significantly impacted Brazil as a major supplier of these goods to the US. Given that Brazil's economic recovery is still unstable and influenced by the "Trump tariff stick," Brazil urgently needs to diversify its export markets, thus turning its attention to the potential-rich China. This context also explains why economic and trade cooperation became the main focus of this visit.
Secondly, the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the CELAC Forum is being held today (May 13th). As a staunch supporter of this multilateral cooperation mechanism, Brazil views this platform as an important strategic pivot for deepening overall cooperation with Latin America.
According to official Brazilian media reports, Brazilian President Lula attended the CELAC Forum on May 13th, accompanied by Agriculture and Livestock Minister Carlos Favaro and president of the Agricultural Research Agency Silvia Masruha.
In light of these two strategic backgrounds, President Lula's trip to China holds special significance.
The destiny of Latin America should be decided by Latin Americans themselves.
Talking about exchanges between China and Latin America, the US often plays the role of an interferer. Wang Youming said that the US has traditionally regarded Latin America as its sphere of influence, viewing this region through the mindset of the "Monroe Doctrine" over 200 years ago.
According to official reports from US media, the first destination of newly appointed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's visit this year was Central America, including Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic. This marks the first time since 2001 that a US Secretary of State has arranged their first visit in Latin America, which is rare in the history of US Secretary of State visits.
In April, during Treasury Secretary Bezos' visit to Argentina, he vigorously smeared normal cooperation between China and Argentina, claiming that the Trump administration was committed to helping Latin American countries avoid so-called "greedy agreements" with China, pressuring the Argentine government to cancel its currency swap agreement with China.
Wang Youming believes that the above actions indicate that as China's influence in Latin America continues to expand, some core figures in the US political arena are becoming increasingly uneasy. This mindset is essentially a continuation of the "Monroe Doctrine," with the US constantly pressuring Latin American countries to "stay vigilant," claiming that China's cooperation in the region may have "hidden" military or political intentions. Such smear campaigns and stigmatization behaviors have become rampant.
"But Latin American countries are not anyone's 'backyard'; they are independent nations. The destiny of Latin America should be decided by Latin Americans themselves."
The current political ecology in Latin America is largely dominated by left-wing and center-left forces. In recent years, the autonomous awareness of Latin American countries has significantly increased. Latin American countries are actively promoting more diversified foreign policies and building strategic partnerships globally. This evolution in the political ecology inevitably leads to corresponding adjustments in their external strategies and foreign policies.
Investment cooperation faces pressure from the US.
China's investment cooperation with Latin America is normal economic and trade exchanges but inevitably faces numerous pressures from the US.
According to reports from the Chilean Citizen Newspaper, the US is pressuring Chile to obstruct normal astronomical research projects between China and the Northern Catholic University of Chile (UCN), resulting in the university ultimately not signing the agreement.
China's investments and cooperation in this region are completely targeted at no third party and do not exist with any intent to confront or replace other countries, which has always been China's basic principle in conducting international cooperation. Wang Youming pointed out that Latin American countries understand fully that China's investments meet the development needs of Latin American countries, especially in the field of infrastructure construction where there is a huge funding gap. It is precisely because of this that Latin American countries generally welcome Chinese investments.
Currently, more than twenty Latin American countries have signed "Belt and Road" cooperation memorandums with China, five countries such as Chile and Peru have signed free trade agreements with China, and some countries have further developed cooperation plans based on the memorandums. These facts fully prove that China's investments come with no political conditions attached, and are completely transparent and normal economic and trade cooperation.
The "Two-Ocean Railway" could promote the integration process in Latin America.
It was noticed that the day before President Lula visited China, Simone Tebet, Minister of Planning and Budget of Brazil, revealed that Brazil is negotiating with China to construct a railway connecting the port of Chancay in Peru to inland areas within Brazil. Although the project will take a long time to gradually materialize, it will have a transformative impact on the economic development of underdeveloped inland regions in Brazil.
Wang Youming pointed out that although Brazil proposed a similar regional connectivity plan over 20 years ago, Peru has gained an advantage in project implementation. The successful operation of the Chancay Port project in Peru significantly enhanced logistics efficiency and reduced transportation costs between South America and the Asian market, providing an example that has shaken Brazil. Against this background, President Lula emphasized during his visit to China the need to accelerate the implementation of relevant investment projects, focusing particularly on deep cooperation in the field of infrastructure.
Currently, Brazil is actively promoting a strategic railway construction project, planning to build an international railway trunk line connecting Rio de Janeiro with the port of Chancay in Peru to achieve land connectivity between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. This plan is in continuity with the previous "Two-Ocean Railway" initiative but has adjusted the cooperation model: transforming from the original trilateral cooperation among Brazil, Bolivia, and Peru to the current bilateral cooperation framework between Brazil and Peru.
The "Two-Ocean Railway" plan can be traced back to the 1960s but has never been initiated until it was reintroduced in 2014. According to the original plan, the "Two-Ocean Railway" would extend approximately 4,919 kilometers from the southeastern state of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil to the port of Callao in Peru, becoming the first railway line spanning the South American continent. However, due to certain challenges in technology, funding, and environmental protection, progress has been slow.
The slow progress of the "Two-Ocean Railway" project was mainly constrained by two factors. On one hand, there were significant differences in the proportion of financial contributions among the participating parties; on the other hand, the project needed to cross ecologically sensitive areas of the Amazon rainforest, leading to prominent environmental protection disputes.
Wang Youming believes that if substantial breakthroughs can be made on these two key issues, the feasibility study process will significantly accelerate. Although the completion of this transcontinental railway in South America will have epoch-making significance in regional and even global transportation patterns, its promotion process still needs to follow the objective laws of the market.
This article is an exclusive contribution of Guancha Observer Network and cannot be reprinted without permission.
Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7503890132722926134/
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