Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday vowed to deepen ties with Latin America and condemned “bullying” in a thinly veiled swipe at the US, as he addressed regional leaders in Beijing.
Leaders and officials from Latin America and the Caribbean have descended on the Chinese capital for the China-CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Forum.
Beijing has stepped up economic and political cooperation with Latin American nations and has urged a united front against US President Donald Trump’s maelstrom of tariffs.
Photo: AFP
Latin America has emerged as a key battleground in Trump’s confrontation with China, and the region is coming under pressure from Washington to choose a side.
Addressing leaders yesterday, Xi hailed China’s burgeoning ties with the region.
“Although China lies far from the Latin American and Caribbean region, the two sides have a time-honored history of friendly exchanges,” Xi told the opening ceremony, likening the summit to a “great, sturdy tree.”
“Only through unity and cooperation can countries safeguard global peace and stability, and promote worldwide development and prosperity,” he said.
The Chinese president also pledged US$9.2 billion in credit toward “development” for the region — part of a broad set of initiatives aimed at deepening cooperation, including on infrastructure and clean energy.
Beijing would also work with the region in counterterrorism and fighting transnational organized crime, Xi said, as well as enhancing exchanges such as scholarships and training programs.
Xi’s remarks come a day after the US and China announced a deal to drastically reduce tit-for-tat tariffs for 90 days, an outcome Trump dubbed a “total reset.”
Under that agreement, the US agreed to lower its tariffs on Chinese goods to 30 percent, while China would reduce its own to 10 percent.
The deal marked a major de-escalation of a grueling trade war between the world’s two largest economies, which threw global markets into turmoil.
“There are no winners in tariff wars or trade wars,” Xi said. “Bullying and hegemony will only lead to self-isolation.”
“The world today is undergoing accelerated transformations unseen in a century, with multiple risks intertwined and overlapping,” he said.
Among notable attendees at the forum was Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who arrived in Beijing on Saturday for a five-day state visit.
Also present was Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who last week said that he intends to sign an accord to join Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative during his visit.
Petro called for “dialogue between civilizations” that took into account the interests of the region.
“A horizontal dialogue, rather than a vertical one, can be free of authoritarianism, of imperialism, of the give and take between civilizations,” he said.
Two-thirds of Latin American nations have joined Beijing’s infrastructure program, and China has surpassed the US as the biggest trading partner of Brazil, Peru and Chile, among others.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric told the forum that his nation would take a “leap forward in economic relations with China.”
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