In 2013, Secretary John Kerry affirmed that the era of the Monroe Doctrine is over, effectively putting other countries, such as China, on notice that the United States would no longer contend their actions in our neighborhood, the Western Hemisphere. In contrast to Roosevelt's policy of the Good Neighbor in 1933, the U.S. has drifted instead toward benign neglect toward the very countries that have the greatest potential to impact the daily lives of the American people-those in Latin America and the Caribbean. China has taken notice, and China has stepped up into this vacuum of leadership. Today, China is weaving an intricate web of alliances in the Western Hemisphere through a vast array of diplomatic, economic, and military ties with multiple countries in the region. Although the United States remains the largest trading partner for Latin America, China is now the region's second-largest trading partner and has free-trade agreements with Chile, Peru, and Costa Rica. China has been buying up land and companies in the region, investing heavily in infrastructure and ports, as well as gobbling up a lot of rare earth minerals. From 2008 to 2012, the 10 largest Chinese mergers and acquisitions occurred in Brazil and Argentina, and other deals have occurred in Ecuador, Venezuela, and Peru. China has promised its investment in the region would hit $250 billion over the next 10 years. According to the Inter-American Dialogue, China has provided 16 loans valued at over $56 billion to Venezuela, 10 loans valued at $22 billion to Brazil, 10 loans valued at $19 billion to Argentina, and 12 loans valued at almost $11 billion to Ecuador. Chinese banks have effectively provided a lifeline to these governments, whose economic mismanagement and corruption prevent them from accessing Western institutions.

"The Emergence of China: Opportunities and Challenges for Latin America and the Caribbean provides a comprehensive overview of China's economic policy and performance over recent decades and contrasts them with the Latin American experience. What are the underlying factors behind China's competitive edge? What are the strategic implications of China's rise for growth and development in Latin America? These questions open new avenues for thinking about revitalizing development strategies in Latin America in the face of China's successful development and reduction of poverty. This insightful report is a must-read for analysts, policymakers, and development practitioners, not only in Latin America and the Caribbean, but wherever China's presence is being felt."--Jacket.

This book explores China’s engagement with Latin America and the Caribbean as a case study of its broader effort to use commercial tools and instruments of state to create a global economic order that functions to its benefit, while neutralizing challenges from institutions, states, and others that would oppose it. Unlike the common representation of the Cold War as a political-military struggle, this work uniquely examines China’s current efforts as primarily seeking to dominate global value chains, with supporting political, technological, and military components. In this regard, it both leverages and goes beyond works based on dependency theory, which has played a key role in the academic and popular discourse in the region. The book examines evidence for China’s economically-focused strategy within Latin America and the Caribbean, including the interrelationships and coordination between China’s activities in different sectors, and between commercial, political, and other dimensions in the region. It further looks at the supporting role played by a diverse range of Chinese initiatives, from China’s Belt and Road initiative, to people-to-people diplomacy, soft power, security engagement, and the PRC struggle with Taiwan for diplomatic recognition in the region, among others. The book highlights the implications for Latin America and the Caribbean, and for the U.S. whose prosperity and security is intimately tied to the region.

China's advance in Latin America and the Caribbean : joint hearing before the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere and the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, One Hundred Fourteenth Congress, first session, September 10, 2015.

This book represents the latest systematic study on relations between China and Latin American and Caribbean countries, one of the highest academic achievements of the Institute of Latin American Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in recent years. This book comprehensively examines the development of diplomatic relations between China and Latin American and Caribbean countries, and elucidates the great diplomatic achievements of China over the past 65 years. The history of relations marks the chronology of China's foreign strategy adjustment, and the evolution of pattern and change of internal and diplomatic affairs of Latin American countries. As a cornerstone of the discipline of Latin American Studies in China, this book is a must-read for the study of Sino-Latin American relations.

This book provides a comprehensive, conceptual and analytical framework for understanding the reordering process in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region, driven and shaped by China–US rivalry. It demonstrates the differences between China–US, China–LAC and US–LAC relations and questions to what extent the LAC region can be considered a unified actor. Exploring broad perspectives such as global governance, international institutions, trade, security policy, climate change, multilateralism and regional and global peace and stability, the contributors also consider China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and “minilateral” cooperation, sustainable development and business and the role of soft power, such as tourism and education in China–LAC relations. This timely and important contribution analyzing the changing regional order in the LAC region brought about by China’s global rise and increasing hegemonic competition with the US will appeal to scholars and student of international relations, international political economy, and security studies.

An analysis of the new physical presence of Chinese companies operating in Latin America and the Caribbean, the associated challenges that they face, and how they are impacting the region and its relationship with the PRC.