U.S. talks with China about Latin American influence

by Mark Mark Magnier, Los Angeles Times
The Bush administration held talks this week with Chinese officials on their nation's growing role in training and advising armed forces in Latin America, though the Americans did not issue warnings or call for limits, a U.S. envoy said Friday.

The two-day meetings, which also covered political and economic issues, were the first between the two countries devoted solely to Latin America, said Thomas A. Shannon, the top U.S. diplomat for Latin America. The discussions reflect China's growing influence as a global power and world-class consumer of oil and other resources, he added.

"We're very attentive" to China's military-related activities in Latin America, Shannon told reporters at the U.S. Embassy here. "I wouldn't say we're concerned at this point. Our own military relationships are much more developed."

Shannon said the talks were designed to improve communication between the two powers in a region where both have significant interests, in hopes of preventing misunderstanding and identifying areas of future cooperation.

Ultimately how Latin American countries choose to engage with Beijing is their concern, he said, adding: "It's not up to us to tell countries what kind of relationship they can have with China."

But the United States remains watchful, said Shannon, who heads back to Washington Saturday after meetings this week in Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing.

Last month, Army Gen. Bantz J. Craddock, who oversees U.S. military operations in Latin America, testified before a Senate Armed Services Committee that more nonlethal Chinese military equipment is showing up in the region and that Beijing is training growing numbers of Latin American military of all ranks.

China's growing wealth and thirst for energy, minerals and other raw materials for its rapidly growing economy have led to a sharp rise in investment and trade in Latin America, with military links an extension of that growing footprint, analysts said.

Nearly half of China's direct foreign investment goes to Latin America, a figure Chinese officials say could reach $100 billion by the end of the decade. And the region's two-way trade with China has grown fourfold since 2000, to $50 billion last year.

Venezuela pledged in February to ship 300,000 barrels of crude a day to the Asian nation, up from 160,000 barrels, while state media here recently announced that Beijing reached a deal to acquire $1.4 billion worth of Ecuadorean oil assets.

Just over a year ago, during a trip to Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Cuba, President Hu Jintao pledged tens of billions of dollars to improve the region's infrastructure.

Chinese analysts said their nation's expanded military relations with Latin America are part of growing political, economic, diplomatic and military ties around the world.

"But we won't push too much in that direction," said Guo Shuyong, an international relations professor at Shanghai Jiaotong University. "We remember the Monroe Doctrine and respect U.S. influence in the region. China is not like the Soviet Union 50 years ago. There will be no Cuban missile crisis."

Critics in Washington have accused China of locking up resources in long-term deals that undercut other potential customers, particularly when the arrangements involve state-owned companies that may not have to abide by market principles. Venezuela, which ships about 60 percent of its oil to the United States, has been of particular concern. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez deeply distrusts Washington, and his government wants to diversify the customer base for its oil.