China has been making its presence felt throughout the Western Hemisphere for many years. Beijing has strategically invested in infrastructure, mineral wealth, and oil. It has also developed a large and sophisticated signals intelligence collection capability in the region.
Chinese trade with Latin America is now worth roughly $450 billion per year. In South America, China is the No. 1 trading partner. In Latin America, China is the second largest trading partner behind the United States. Beyond shrewd investments, the Chinese Communist Party has taken advantage of regional dissatisfaction with U.S. leadership in the region. It has effectively targeted these U.S. partners with promises of foreign direct investment through its Belt and Road Initiative. Take, for example, the cases of Panama and the Dominican Republic. In 2017, Panama recognized China and broke ties with Taiwan. The Dominican Republic followed suit in 2018.
The symbolism of these developments is staggering, particularly in the case of Panama. The U.S. built the Panama Canal and forever changed global trade routes. This action increased the prosperity of millions well beyond U.S. shores. But China is now working effectively to undermine the U.S.-led democratic international order as it pertains to Latin America. Beijing also actively seeks to empower U.S. adversaries in the Western Hemisphere. In Venezuela, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s voracious appetite for oil is propping up the illegitimate regime of dictator Nicolas Maduro. China also provides Maduro with weapons.
Further south, in Argentina, China has made a major investment in an outpost in Patagonia. While China claims this investment supports its space program, the facility can also be leveraged to support intelligence-gathering. It bears noting that China has invested in such ground stations across the region.
In many respects, China’s growing influence in the Western Hemisphere is as much a byproduct of China’s global hegemonic ambitions as it is the fault of the U.S. Washington should have worked to build more trust and better working relationships with partners in the region. Still, the U.S. will have problems if it cannot protect its own interests closest to home. Along with Congress, the Biden administration must work more to counter China’s malign influence in the region.
The U.S. must invest more in its Latin America-focused Southern Command, particularly in terms of intelligence-gathering capabilities. It is also important that the budgets of both the U.S. Agency for International Development and the International Development Finance Corporation be bolstered for Latin America-related projects.
China is not expanding its footprint in this key region simply for economic reasons. Xi’s regime wishes to harm the U.S. through an aggressive projection of power in the Western Hemisphere. It is thus incumbent upon U.S. officials and diplomats to treat Latin American partners with respect as the equals they are. We must acknowledge the essential importance of the region to U.S. security and prosperity.
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J.P. Carroll is a senior fellow with the Joseph Rainey Center for Public Policy. Follow him on Twitter at @JPCarrollDC1.
