In February of this year Joe Biden was blunt when, on the occasion of the episode of the Chinese hot air balloon that was presumed to be observing North American cities, he asserted: “China threatens our sovereignty. We decided to act to protect our country. And we have done it.” Indeed, the balloon was destroyed by Department of Defense fighter planes… but the act was undoubtedly purely retaliatory.
The reality is that Washington has been defensive in the face of China and, at least as far as its presence in Latin America is concerned, the North American burden of proactivity has been very little. The White House is now beginning to realize that China has been occupying national spaces that the United States has failed to sympathize with over the past few years to its own detriment.
According to a report by the US Congressional Research Service – a non-partisan body that provides congressional committees with relevant information on issues of interest to the legislative and executive branches – the Red Dragon’s activities in our region are not aimed at challenge the United States directly or militarily. This is what explains the indolence of the United States in the face of a possible Chinese advance. There is a conviction in both parties that, in the military area, China does not exercise, nor does it have among its priorities to exert influence in the countries in the United States‘ backyard. The leadership of the United States in this field would not be found, then, at stake.
At the State Department, they believe that China’s commitment to the countries of the region, despite having grown significantly since the beginning of this century, does not go beyond financing and participation in infrastructure works, in addition to important trade. It is generated in both directions. Both of these things assure China a certain fidelity from governments, but what separates them from achieving significant external coercion are the deep political, social and cultural differences and the language barriers that China encounters in the center and middle nations. south american
However, by this time it is already evident that the debts with the Asian giant that penalize the budgets of a growing number of countries in the area are enough to get the hand of the Latin American delegates in events of the international institutions to raise in favor of Chinese theses.
For all of the above, a change of orientation in Washington’s diplomacy towards the region in the immediate future is imperative. There is already talk not of tying bilateral relations with new loans or increasing trade – China will inevitably end up surpassing the volumes of trade that the United States exhibits with its Latin American partners – but, for example, undertaking a generalized task of subsidizing activities of economic significance and social in countries that desperately need it.
This is essential for everyone and, equally, for the left-wing and “progressive” currents that run through Latin America. This would be a way to encourage harmony with the United States and put the winds to blow in their favor.
But the reality is that it would take much more than this. The White House must be seriously concerned with countering the technological influence that China, without showing it much, is deploying within our borders.