China lent Central American ally Costa Rica nearly US$400 million on Monday during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to a region where Beijing has traditionally vied with rival Taiwan for influence.
Costa Rica recently backed China in its dispute with Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a renegade province, in votes at the United Nations. Members of the Costa Rican opposition said the deals announced on Monday raised questions about what China expected in return.
The bulk of the financial aid was made through the Export-Import Bank of China, which said it was giving a US$296 million loan to fund the extension of a road to connect the central part of Costa Rica to its main shipping port in the Caribbean.
A second loan for US$101 million was made to allow Costa Rica to replace some 16,000 public transportation vehicles. Both loans must be approved by Costa Rica’s Congress.
The Caribbean and Central America are regions where China and Taiwan have competed for allies. China and Taiwan have been ruled separately since defeated Nationalist forces fled to the island at the end of a civil war in 1949.
China still claims the island as its own territory and reserves the right to use military force to reclaim Taiwan, although economic ties have broadened rapidly and a free-trade agreement links the two sides.
Costa Rican Foreign Minister Enrique Castillo said on Sunday that it would “only be natural for China to ask us for support at the United Nations level”.