Skip to main content

Chile praises China’s ‘constructive role’ at Latin American forum

Chile’s Foreign Minister Heraldo Munoz (R) with Spain’s former Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. (Source: REUTERS/File)
Chile’s foreign minister welcomed Chinese representatives to a meeting with Latin American and Caribbean countries on Sunday, praising the Asian nation for rejecting protectionism as the United States backs away from global trade.
Foreign Minister Heraldo Munoz, who has criticized US President Donald Trump in the past, told a news conference that Latin America could do a lot more to stimulate trade with China and called on its nations to take advantage of the talks to improve ties.
“We are in uncertain and complex times, and China is playing a very constructive role in addressing these complexities,” he said.
China has sought a bigger role overseas since Trump was elected, presenting its Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership trade agreement as an alternative to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was abandoned by the United States.
Representatives from China and the 33 members of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) are holding meetings on Sunday and Monday in the Chilean capital, Santiago.
China sees it as “natural” to expand its westward infrastructure drive – the “One Belt, One Road” initiative – to Latin America, China’s foreign minister said in an interview with a local newspaper on Sunday.
“China wants the participation of all the countries of the region to be involved in the construction of the ‘One Belt, One Road’ … so they can share the great opportunities and dividends of this platform of global cooperation,” Minister Wang Yi said in an interview with El Mercurio.
Proposed in 2013 by President Xi Jinping, the project promotes a vision of expanding links between Asia, Africa and Europe, with billions of dollars in infrastructure investment.
China is already testing U.S. dominance in Latin America, offering the region $250 billion in investment over the next decade. It is the top trading partner of many countries in the region, including Brazil, Chile and Argentina.
In recent years, Chinese companies have moved away from merely buying Latin American raw materials and are diversifying into sectors like auto manufacturing, e-commerce and even technology businesses like car-hailing services.
Chile, one of the most open economies in Latin America, updated its bilateral trade deal with China in November 2017 on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific economic summit.
“Like Chile, China rejects protectionism in favor of openness, connectivity, investment, trade and cooperation,” Munoz said.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ukraine crisis: Exchange of hundreds of prisoners takes place

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko attends a ceremony to welcome prisoners of war (POWs), released after the exchange with pro-Russian separatists, upon their arrival at an airport in Kharkiv, Ukraine December 27, 2017. (Source: Reuters)  Ukraine and separatist rebels in the east of the country have exchanged hundreds of prisoners, in one of the biggest swaps since the conflict began in 2014. Around 230 people were sent to rebel-held areas in return for 74 prisoners who had been held by pro-Russia rebels in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, BBC reported on Wednesday. It was the first swap in 15 months. The release and exchange of prisoners was one of the points in the Minsk peace agreement, signed in 2015. The deal has stalled since and analysts say the swap does not signify wider progress. Both sides continue to hold other prisoners. The number of prisoners swapped was lower than initially announced after dozens of people who were meant to be returned to rebel-held terr...
Post a Comment
Read more

Over 1 lakh illegal immigrants arrested in US in 2017

On January 25, Trump issued an executive order to set forth the Administration’s immigration enforcement and removal priorities. (Representational Image) The US authorities have arrested 143,470 illegal immigrants this year, according to a latest report. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in its annual report that it has made 143,470 administrative arrests in fiscal year 2017, increasing 30 per cent Year-on-Year, Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday. An administrative arrest is the arrest of an alien for a civil violation of the immigration laws, which is subsequently adjudicated by an immigration judge or through other administrative processes. Of the total arrests, 110,568 occurred after January 20, which is a 42 per cent increase over the same time period last year, according to the report. US President Donald Trump took the oath of office on January 20 this year. On January 25, Trump issued an executive order to set forth the Administration’s immigrat...
Post a Comment
Read more

As many as 12 killed in New York’s deadliest fire in decades

More than 160 firefighters helped bring the blaze under control. (Source: Fire Department New York/Twitter) A massive fire ignited accidentally by a three-year-old boy swept through a five-story apartment building in New York, killing at least 12 people including a toddler and injuring four others in the deadliest blaze to hit the city in decades. The fire broke out around 6:50 pm (local time) yesterday on the first floor of the Prospect Avenue apartment in the Bronx borough of the city and spread quickly, officials said, adding that the cause of the blaze is under investigation. “We found that this fire started in a kitchen on the first floor,” fire commissioner Daniel Nigro said. “It started from a young boy, three and a half years old, playing with the burners on the stove. The fire got started, the mother was not aware of it – she was alerted by the young man screaming.” The boy’s mother fled with her two children, leaving the door to the apartment open – allowing t...
Post a Comment
Read more