For some years now, China has sought to deepen its relations with the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. It has done so as a part of a long-term geo-political strategy that is accompanying its rise to super power status.
Its objective in every nation in South and Central America and the Caribbean is to support development through investment and trade, and then over time to enlarge its economic, political and security role.
Up to the early part of this year its emphasis has largely been on delivering support on a bilateral basis. It has also tended to conflate Latin America and the Caribbean’s interests, barely differentiating its priorities or thinking in relation to smaller states.
However, this January at the Second China-Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Ministerial Forum held in Santiago, Chile, this changed. The ten-page action plan coming out of the meeting indicated that China not only wanted to extend its Belt and Road Initiative, but also do more at a regional and sub-regional level through a range of programmes that will see Beijing expand its relationship into many new areas.
