Chinese President Xi Jinping and Peruvian President Dina Bolarte on Thursday inaugurated a new $1.3 billion megaport in Peru’s coastal city of Chancay, built and financed by Chinese shipping giant Cosco.
According to Chinese state media, President Xi attended the ceremony virtually with Bolarte and hailed the project as a gateway between Asia and Latin America and an important source of income and employment for the Andean country. .
Chancay has been touted by Mr. Xi as South America’s first green and smart port. The port, about 40 miles north of Peru’s capital Lima, will reduce transit time between the two countries from 35 to 25 days by allowing ships to bypass ports of call in Manzanillo, Mexico, and Long Beach, California. It is expected that this will happen.
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But the U.S. government is concerned that Chinese state-owned companies operate deep-water ports so close to the U.S. mainland. The project marks another significant expansion of China’s presence in parts of the world that the United States considers its sphere of influence.
“When it comes to big geopolitical issues, the Peruvian government is not focused enough on analyzing the benefits and threats to itself,” an anonymous U.S. official told the Financial Times late last year.
“On the 20 yard line”
Army Gen. Laura Richardson, commander of U.S. Southern Command, characterized China’s infrastructure projects in the Caribbean, Central and South America as a security threat. “They’re on the 20-yard line, in the red zone all the way to the homeland,” Richardson told Newsweek last year, referring to China’s approach.
In addition to being a large industrial complex, the port boasts 15 berths capable of accommodating some of the world’s largest cargo ships and People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warships.
“The Southern Command is responsible for considering what America’s adversaries could do in and from the region in time of war, so civilian ports exclusively operated by China’s Cosco in the Western Hemisphere are It will be used to support military operations of the People’s Liberation Army against the United States in the event of a war with the People’s Republic,” Evan Ellis, a professor of Latin American studies at the U.S. Army War College, told Newsweek.
He referred to the Chinese government’s doctrine of civil-military fusion, which gives the Chinese military access to anything owned by civilian organizations, including businesses. He cited Cosco’s past support for People’s Liberation Army naval operations, citing the evacuation of civilians from Libya in 2011 as an example.
Ellis also said that Hambantota Port, Sri Lanka’s second largest port and one that has been leased to Chinese commercial ports for 99 years, has been hosting and resupplying Chinese warships despite no military base agreement. He also pointed out that.
Parsifal Dosola, CEO of the Andres Bello Foundation, a Colombia-based non-profit research center on China-Latin American relations, also pointed to the port’s geopolitical implications. did.
“The People’s Republic of China often restricts market access or halts purchases of key export products to advance its interests in other regions, such as Africa and Southeast Asia,” he told Newsweek. “There is a well-documented history of using economic influence.” “The main concern is that many policymakers in Latin America and the Caribbean are either unaware of these potential risks or may downplay or ignore them in favor of economic interests. That’s true.”
But Dosola said fears that China would use the port to strengthen its military presence in the region were “overblown” and said there were “little strategic advantages” for the East Asian country. No,” he said.
Additionally, he said Peru would be reluctant to jeopardize its relationship with the United States, and even countries hostile to the United States, such as Venezuela and Cuba, would allow access to Chinese naval vessels if Peru deemed them a threat. He added that he would think about it carefully. neighboring superpower.
APEC summit meeting
Chancai’s inauguration will coincide with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum in Lima, where Xi Jinping, US President Joe Biden and other world leaders will gather to discuss economic cooperation across the Pacific. But as China expands its influence in Latin America, some U.S. officials are viewing the new port with suspicion.
The APEC summit in Lima concludes on Saturday.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian said at a regular press conference on Wednesday that economic ties between China and Latin America are expanding, with total trade totaling $489 billion last year, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. He emphasized that this has been achieved. He said this figure is expected to reach $500 billion by 2025.
Lin also noted that China enjoys free trade agreements with five Latin American countries, including Peru, and that China and Lima have “substantially completed” negotiations to upgrade the agreement.
Despite concerns about Cosco’s 60% stake in the port, Peruvian officials remain optimistic. Transport Minister Raul Pérez-Reyes assured the public that the ports will continue to operate under the supervision of Peru’s ports and customs authorities. “Chinese money made the port possible, but the operation of the port is no different than if it were run by North American or British investors,” Pérez Reyes told AP News.
“We Peruvians are primarily focused on the well-being of the Peruvian people,” the news agency quoted Foreign Minister Elmer Sheeler as saying.
However, not all local residents share this enthusiasm. Many Chancay residents rely on fishing, and they say the project will damage local fishing grounds that have long relied on the local economy. “I don’t blame the Chinese for trying to mine this place for everything of value. I blame the government for not protecting us,” Julius Caesar, a 78-year-old fisherman, told The Associated Press.
Newsweek has written to the Peruvian and Chinese foreign ministries and the U.S. State Department for comment.
