China helps Latin America with deeds, not just words

Officials rebut Tillerson on claim that China is making region dependent

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson claimed that in Latin America, China “offers the appearance of an attractive path to development” that “often involves trading shortterm gains for long-term dependency”.

The reality is that China is actually promoting the region to develop independently.

Tillerson will wrap up his first visit to Latin America on Wednesday to reassert US influence in a region that US President Donald Trump made little effort to engage in the first year of his presidency.

In listing the priorities where China and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) countries can work on in years to come, Beijing recently has said that it is ready to help the region develop competitive home-grown pillar industries.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that fostering such industries with a competitive edge is key to breaking developmental bottlenecks in the region.

“China has the equipment, technology, funding and training opportunities you need,” Wang said at the second ministerial meeting the China and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States Forum in Santiago, Chile on Jan 23.

He said China will ramp up support for the early establishment of an independent and diversified industrial system in the LAC countries.

Jose Bernal, Mexican ambassador to China, said China’s investment in the field of sci-tech and infrastructure is important for Latin America.

China’s financing cooperation with Latin America has benefited more than 80 livelihood projects in over 20 countries, he told a briefing in Beijing on Feb 2.

/ CHINA DAILY ZHOU PAI AND ZHANG RUINAN The Brooklyn Nets dance team performs a traditional Chinese ribbon dance during the Nets’ NBA basketball game vs. the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The performance was part of the NBA’s Chinese New Year...