Donald Trump and his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro were engaged in a very public line against immigrant deportation last month, but China’s Ambassador Bogota said he was told that China and Colombian diplomatic relations were He was enthusiastically tweeting that he had reached his “best moment.”
After Peter refused to receive a plane from the US carrying handcuffed exiled Colombians, Trump retaliated by double the tariffs and revoking his visa for Colombian officials.
Peter was forced to retreat soon, but tensions were still high, but Beijing ambassador Zhu jingyang celebrates China-Colombia relations, including photos and videos of the month’s New Year celebrations in Bogota 38 I posted a tweet.
“We are experiencing the best moments in diplomatic relations,” he wrote, linking to an interview that gave us a local newspaper published a day ago. Asked about timing, Zhu said, “It has nothing to do with what’s going on today, and I have no magic to predict or predict,” he posted, adding laughing emojis for the two.
“The ambassador’s post on the day is an example of how Chinese people think in this era of rapid change in US foreign policy, agile, reactive and promptly,” Research (CSI).
Berg and other analysts argue that Trump’s protectionist measures, and the suspension of almost all US foreign aid — could bring South American countries even closer to China.
“The United States is chasing its own allies,” said Carol Wise, a professor of international relations at the University of Southern California (USC), pointing to additional tariffs Trump has threatened against Mexico and Canada. “Really, do math. If you’re going to chase your friends, your friends will blend with what you call enemies, right?” she said.
On Monday, the US President announced a new round of 25% tariffs on all foreign steel and aluminum. Brazil is the second largest steel supplier in the United States, after Canada alone.
In 2023, South American countries exported $91.2 billion (£73.7 billion) to the United States, twice that amount to China, exporting $181 billion (£146.2 billion). The United States remains the largest trading partner of countries such as Colombia and Ecuador, but 20 years ago it was everyone except Paraguay.
“Since Barack Obama took office, the US has not had a South American policy for several administrations,” says Monica, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. De Bore said. “It was a very long time that the US completely withdraws from the region, except for issues related to migration, Venezuela and drug trafficking. There was a vacuum that China had filled,” she said.
For many analysts, the most important symbol of South American China’s current and future strategy is Peru’s “Megaport,” a $3.5 billion project launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping last November. is.
Last week, the Colombian government announced a new shipping route to pass through Chansei. The Brazilian government also said that Trump’s protectionist measures would reduce transportation times for 10 days compared to the Atlantic route, and Trump’s protectionist measures would quickly track the launch of operations at the port. It is reportedly recognized as having done so.
Of course, the most important and immediate potential beneficiary will be the host country itself. “We put Peru in a position we couldn’t think of 10 years ago,” Wise said.
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However, the port also attracts unnecessary attention to countries that have so far escaped Trump’s tariff hikes. Mauricio Claver Karon, the US President’s envoy to Latin America, has already argued that South American countries using Chankai should face a 60% extra charge.
“The United States demands the level of loyalty, loyalty and respect that we’ve wasted decades ago,” Wise said. “We hope that in time these Latin American countries can say, ‘Sorry, unfortunately, tariffs are good’.
Chansei Port is also an example of how the terms of a contract with China change over time, Berg said. “Peru thought they had a Chinese-made port. Now it’s a China-owned sales port (from the state-run COSCO transport),” he said.
Antonio Jose Pagan, a researcher at the Center for China-Asia-Pacific Studies in Lima, said the increase in settlements between China and the region also raises the risk of relying on Beijing.
“But we must not forget the institutions of these countries,” he said. “The important thing for them is that they can work with both sides and have to choose between the two sides.
“But this may not be possible if competition between the US and China continues to deteriorate.”