US urges caution over building China ties

US Vice President Mike Pence warned Central American nations to be cautious when building relations with China, which has been increasingly active in the region.

Amid mounting tensions between the US and China, Pence brought up ties with Beijing as he met in Washington with leaders of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras as well as Mexico’s foreign secretary.

“I say to each of those nations represented here, on behalf of our administration, as you build commercial partnerships with other nations including China, we urge you to focus on and demand transparency and look after your and our long-term interests,” he said.

El Salvador in August recognised Beijing in the latest diplomatic setback for Taiwan, the self-ruling democratic island which China considers to be a renegade province.

Central America has remained the key bastion for Taiwan, with Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua still maintaining ties with Taipei rather than Beijing, which has used its economic muscle and promises of investment to entice governments.

The US recognises Beijing but is congressionally bound to ensure Taiwan’s defence, with President Donald Trump’s administration especially vocal on defending Taiwan diplomatically.

China has also ramped up trade with Latin America as a whole in the Asian power’s quest for natural resources, in places commercially outpacing the US which has rejected foreign influence in the region in a policy dating nearly two centuries.

Pence was meeting with the Central American leaders to stem the flow of undocumented migration into the US, a key issue for Trump, who rose to power characterising immigrants as criminals and vowing to build a wall on the southern border.

The vice president asked the Central American leaders to send a message to their citizens that, “If they can’t come to the US legally, they should not come at all.”