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Cantina virtual de los COLombianos en el EXTerior
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Mao comenzó su famosa marcha dando un paso... --PANG
China: Leveraging the Crisis 11 April 2001 (Stratfor)
The agreement between China and the United States for the release of 24
detained crew members of a U.S. spy plane ends an 11-day standoff China
hopes will gain it political leverage and technological know-how that can be
used against the United States.
Despite the crisis at home, Chinese President Jiang Zemin has continued a
tour of Latin America aimed at enhancing China's geopolitical influence in
the region, the declared zone of U.S. national interest.
Jiang has attempted to use the standoff to demonstrate China's strength and
confidence as he looks to expand Chinese trade and investment in Latin
America and build support for China's accession to the World Trade
Organization.
China's dispute with the United States is expected to help make gains in
Latin America. But China's detention of a U.S. EP-3E, loaded with some of
the most sophisticated reconnaissance equipment in the U.S. arsenal, can
give its military a technological leap forward, as well.
The plane could provide China with substantial technological gains, helping
Beijing learn how to hide its military activities and giving it knowledge of
how to monitor other militaries' movements and gauge their motives.
Such technological know-how could propel China toward its goal of being a
major conventional military power in the region.
The technology found aboard the EP-3E could give China electronic
capabilities that would have taken years for it to develop on its own. The
plane's systems, designed to detect and classify a wide range of electronic
signals, could help China block its own emissions.
Chinese President Jiang Zemin rides in a horse-drawn buggy April 8 in Buenos
Aires, Argentina, on his 12-day six-nation tour of Latin America.
The EP-3E also has some of the physical sub-hunting characteristics of its
predecessor, the P-3 Orion, which could be highly useful in China's efforts
to operate its submarines far from the mainland without detection.
Beijing's goals in Latin America are ambitious. It wants to strengthen its
geopolitical position in a region where U.S. influence has always been
predominant. Jiang also aims to expand Chinese trade and investment in Latin
America and build support for China's accession to the WTO.
Beijing has tried in the past to garner the support of other developing
nations by using ideological and military means of influence. In using
economic incentives, China's government is taking a different approach in
its attempt to become the leader of the developing world.
On this tour, no military officials are traveling with the president's
entourage. Instead, the entourage consists of economic officials and
civilian diplomats, suggesting Beijing sees expanded business ties with
Latin America as the main diplomatic weapon in its goal to establish
geopolitical leadership in the developing world.
Beijing understands the Chinese example cannot lure the developed countries
of Western Europe, Japan or other regions. But developing countries are
another matter. China is trying to portray itself as the world's largest
developing nation, one that could serve as a model for other developing
countries.
Here Latin America plays well into Beijing's geopolitical plans. "China is
the largest developing nation in the world and Latin America is a region
with a considerable concentration of developing nations," said Foreign
Minister Tang Jiaxuan in Santiago, Chile, March 31.
In essence, Beijing seeks to establish a counterweight against the United
States' global economic and political power, not by challenging it
militarily but rather by coordinating global resistance.
While calling on Santiago for increased trade and investment with Latin
America, Jiang stated the global financial order had become increasingly
unfair and, as a result, developing countries faced an arduous struggle to
safeguard their national interests, reported the BBC April 7.
All six countries on the tour are willing to acquire investments from China,
strengthen economic and trade relations and support China's entry into the
WTO, based on Xinhua interviews with respective foreign ministers. More than
20 agreements on trade, investment, education and sports will be signed
during the tour.
China mainly buys raw commodities from Latin America and exports products
like textiles, footwear and some computer components. Bilateral China-Latin
America trade increased 52.5 percent in 2000, totaling $12.6 billion overall
but representing only 3 percent of China's total trade.
Jiang's visit is likely to be a success. The current standoff between the
United States and China will probably help China promote its geopolitical
influence in Latin America.
But Beijing has a long way to go before it can truly compete with Washington
there given the strong U.S. security presence on the continent, the heavy
influx of imports from the United States and with Latin America counting for
only 3 percent of China's total trade.
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