A trio of South American countries will host China’s top diplomat in the days following the United Nations General Assembly, Beijing announced Monday.
“State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will pay visits to the Dominican Republic, Guyana and Suriname from September 20 to 23,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said, according to the official press briefing transcript. “They will exchange views on bilateral relations and other issues of mutual interest.”
China has enjoyed a series of diplomatic successes in Latin America over the past several months, most recently by convincing El Salvador to cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan and establish a relationship with Beijing instead. Those gains help isolate Taiwan, which the mainland Communist regime regards as a breakaway province led by “separatist forces,” while helping China establish a logistical foothold in South America.
“The Dominican Republic has ignored our long-term partnership, the wishes of the people of the Dominican Republic and the years of development assistance provided by Taiwan to accept false promises of investment and aid by China,” Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu told reporters in May, according to CNN.
Those successes alarm some U.S. officials, who worry not only about Taiwan but also suspect that the Chinese navy could gain access to valuable ports near the United States.
“They’re positioning themselves in all the different ports — in the Straits of Malacca, in the South China Sea,” said Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., who chairs the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific and also sits on the subcommittee for the Western Hemisphere. “Then you bolster that up with ships in El Salvador, possible ships in Cuba, possible ships in Haiti. … I think it’s a big cause for concern.”
