China’s Aspirations to Invest in South & Central America / US Concerns

[Br.IanVonTurpie]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10364663/China-plots-Latin-America-new-action-plan.html

China has inked a new deal with leaders in Latin America and the Caribbean to deepen ties across almost all areas of society in what one analyst likened to a plot to 'take over' the region

As part of the deal, Beijing has committed to supplying the region with 'civilian' nuclear technology, helping to develop 'peaceful' space programmes, building 5G networks of the kind Washington warns will be used to spy on people, and to pumping in cheap loans and financing for 'elaborate development plans

China has even pledged to build schools and fund classes teaching Chinese language and 'culture', though such institutions have been criticised elsewhere for pushing state propaganda and limiting academic freedom.

It comes off the back of decades of Chinese investment and development in Latin America and the Caribbean which has seen hundreds of billions of dollars poured into the region to build critical infrastructure such as ports, roads, and power plants in what many believe is an attempt to buy power and influence in America's back yard.

'There are absolutely ambitions for China to become the dominant influence in Latin America,' Mateo Haydar, a researcher at the Heritage Foundation said off the back of the latest deal


'The challenge is comprehensive, and there's absolutely a security and military interest there. ... That threat is growing, and it's a different kind of threat than what we saw with the Soviets,' he told the Washington Examiner.

Professor Evan Ellis, of the U.S. Army War College, added: 'The Chinese don't say, "We want to take over Latin America," but they clearly set out a multidimensional engagement strategy, which, if successful, would significantly expand their leverage and produce enormous intelligence concerns for the United States.'

The deal, officially the 'Joint Action Plan for Cooperation in Key Areas', was signed last month between China and CELAC, an alliance of Latin American and Caribbean States that encompasses almost all the countries in the region including major players such as Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Uruguay and Chile.

While light on specifics, it sets out a broad roadmap for relations between China and countries in the region up to 2024 - committing them to deepening ties between governments, banks, companies and educational institutions.

Most of the commitments appear routine - such as pledges to preserve the environment, develop green tech, and promote equality and sustainability - but some will certainly give minds in the Pentagon pause for thought

'The challenge is comprehensive, and there's absolutely a security and military interest there. ... That threat is growing, and it's a different kind of threat than what we saw with the Soviets,' he told the Washington Examiner.

Professor Evan Ellis, of the U.S. Army War College, added: 'The Chinese don't say, "We want to take over Latin America," but they clearly set out a multidimensional engagement strategy, which, if successful, would significantly expand their leverage and produce enormous intelligence concerns for the United States.'

The deal, officially the 'Joint Action Plan for Cooperation in Key Areas', was signed last month between China and CELAC, an alliance of Latin American and Caribbean States that encompasses almost all the countries in the region including major players such as Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Uruguay and Chile.

While light on specifics, it sets out a broad roadmap for relations between China and countries in the region up to 2024 - committing them to deepening ties between governments, banks, companies and educational institutions.

Most of the commitments appear routine - such as pledges to preserve the environment, develop green tech, and promote equality and sustainability - but some will certainly give minds in the Pentagon pause for thought

The first is a commitment to exchange nuclear technology and promote 'relevant practical projects' including the training of nuclear scientists to 'bring into play advantages offered by nuclear technology and nuclear energy.'

The deal specifies that this will be 'peaceful' and elsewhere commits the parties to pursuing 'nuclear disarmament', but will almost certainly cause concern because the technology used to enrich nuclear fuel can be repurposed to make weapons-grade material for use in bombs.

Washington has also been issuing increasingly frequent warnings about Chinese firms providing assistance to the military in recent months, and is likely to fear that any civilian nuclear firms which establish themselves in South America are being used for a dual purpose.

Likewise, China's pledge to help develop space programmes for the 'peaceful exploration of space' is also likely to be a cause for concern.

In the past, Beijing has tried to pass off the launch of spy satellites as 'communication' craft, and recently pushed back on accusations that it had tested a hypersonic orbital nuke by saying it was actually a civilian spacecraft meant for the 'peaceful exploration of space

As part of the agreement, the two sides commit to cooperation in the 'construction of ground infrastructure' to support space programmes, raising the possibility that such technology could soon be launched, controlled or monitored from America's doorstep.

And that is not the only area where Chinese and South American technology is likely to combine. The deal also pledges greater cooperation on 'digital infrastructure, telecommunications equipment, [and] 5G.'

The US has been locked in a proxy-war with China for years over the roll-out of 5G technology, ever since it emerged that Beijing was pulling ahead in the race to build the world's new information networks.

Mike Pompeo, former US secretary of state, pushed hard in the later years of the Trump administration to persuade western nations and US allies to ditch the technology, warning it would be used to spy on users.

The Chinks are doing this with poorer nations to "debt trap " them and then take their ports as payment. The Chinks have a strategy for the West but we don't have a strategy for them! The West is too concerned in stuff like the BLM movement, Gay rights, Feminist movement and sorting refugees being "asleep at the wheel" while the "human insect race" white ants your back yard.