Bloomberg reported that on October 14 local time, US President Trump, during a meeting with Argentine President Milei, again raised concerns about Sino-Argentine relations. He told Milei that the US government would not allow any "Chinese military activities" in Argentina.

"You can conduct some trade with China, but it should absolutely not go beyond this scope, especially not engage in any military-related cooperation with China. If such things really happen, I will be very uneasy," Trump told Milei.

On that day, Trump met with Milei at the White House. Previously, US Treasury Secretary Becerra had promised to provide broad support for Argentina's struggling currency and overall economy, aiming to assist Milei before the key midterm elections later this month.

Although Becerra announced last week that an agreement had been reached with Argentina on a $20 billion currency swap line. However, Trump still insisted that Milei needed to perform "well" in the midterm election on October 26 to obtain this currency swap line. His remarks caused the price of Argentina's sovereign bonds to drop later that afternoon.

After Trump and Milei gave opening statements, when Trump was answering questions from reporters, Milei did not speak again.

On October 14 local time, Trump met with Milei at the White House. Bloomberg

Previously, there were reports that the Trump administration had pressured Argentina to cancel its currency swap agreement with China. In response, Becerra said on the 14th that the financial assistance provided by the US to Argentina does not depend on whether Milei's government terminates the 18 billion USD agreement with the Chinese central bank.

"I am more referring to those ports, military bases, and observation facilities established in Argentina," Becerra said.

The report pointed out that Becerra's remarks almost directly targeted the Chinese space observation station in Patagonia, Argentina, and echoed Becerra's previous statement that Milei had promised to "expel China from Argentina."

In 2012, the then-Argentine government granted China the right to build a 494-acre observation station in the Neuquén province of Patagonia, with a term of 50 years. Milei's predecessor, Fernandez, renewed the agreement with China to establish a joint venture and cooperate in space exploration.

Every U.S. administration has accused China of "secretly conducting military activities" at the Patagonian observation station. Soon after Trump made the above remarks, Argentina's Minister of Security, Burlic, denied that both sides had specifically discussed the issue of the observation station.

Previously, regarding Becerra's remarks, the spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Argentina refuted that Becerra's provocative comments on Sino-Argentine relations and Sino-Latin American cooperation once again exposed the deep-rooted Cold War and confrontation mindset of some people in the U.S.

The spokesperson pointed out that Latin America and the Caribbean are not anyone's "backyard." Sino-Latin American cooperation does not target third parties and should not be interfered with by third parties. Countries in the region have the right to independently choose their development path and partners. Instead of sowing discord and stirring up trouble in friendly cooperation between other countries, the U.S. should do more practical things for the development of Latin American and Caribbean countries.

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