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Liu Zhen

China’s premier and Japan’s prime minister are visiting Cuba back to back this week, as both East Asian nations seek to expand their economic influence in the Caribbean.
The visits will be each country’s first to the island at the prime ministerial level.
Premier Li Keqiang will spend four days in Havana from September 24 to 28, following Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit from September 22 to 24.
Chinese premier to head to UN, Canada and Cuba as economic worries at home ease
There are more than 30 deals on Li’s wish list, including cooperation in technology, new energy, manufacturing and environmental protection, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced earlier.

Meanwhile, Abe is expected to announce debt relief of 120 billion yen (HK$9.18 billion), which is three-quarters of Cuba’s total debt to Japan. He will also offer official development aid of 1 billion yen, according to Japanese media.
Abe to become first Japanese leader to visit Cuba
China has close economic ties with Cuba and is Havana’s second-largest trading partner, on top of what commerce vice-minister Wang Chao has called a “deeply rooted traditional friendship” between the two communist allies.
President Xi Jinping has visited Cuba twice while Cuban leaders Fidel and Raul Castro have made multiple trips to China.
Fan Hesheng, director of the Institute of Latin America Studies at Anhui University, said Premier Li would boost support for Cuba’s leaders, while emphasising the importance to China of the entire Latin American region.
Japan, on the other hand, was more likely to endorse US President Barack Obama’s diplomacy as it “just gets started to cultivate a relationship with Cuba”, according to Hiroko Maeda, a research fellow at the Centre for International and Strategic Studies of Tokyo-based think tank PHP Institute.

In March, Obama paid a historic three-day visit to Cuba after the United States ended decades of hostility and trade embargoes on the communist country, which had been in place since the cold war.
Months before the US-Cuba diplomatic relationship was established in July last year, Japanese foreign minister Fumio Kishida travelled to Havana and met Fidel Castro.
“The improvement of the US-Cuba relations provided opportunities for Japan to expand its relationship with Cuba,” Maeda said. “This time, achieving economic cooperation is the biggest task for Abe.”
‘What’s up, Cuba?’ Obama arrives in Havana for historic visit to former cold war foe
Abe would also call for strengthened sanctions on North Korea by Cuba, which has friendly relations with Pyongyang, as well as seeking support on issues such as Japan’s status in the United Nations, Maeda added.
The close timing of Li and Abe’s visits reminded many of the rivalry between China and Japan in Southeast Asia and Africa.

Beijing and Tokyo competed to construct high-speed rail projects in Indonesia and Thailand, and the Tokyo International Conference on African Development is seen as targeting China’s Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.
China wins Indonesia high-speed rail project as Japan laments ‘extremely regrettable’ U-turn
In the case of Cuba, however, it is not very likely that Abe is intentionally challenging China’s long-term advantages yet, although he does view China as a rival in many ways, said Su Hao, a professor in the Department of Diplomacy at China Foreign Affairs University.
“It is more driven by the needs of Japan’s domestic economic development, to penetrate into a new market and look for opportunity in this virgin land” Su said.
Fan said Abe’s visit to Cuba could be seen as an effort to counter China’s sway in the region, as many countries are eyeing Cuba since it restored diplomatic ties with the US.
“Besides Japan, European countries such as Spain also have an interest in expanding Latin American markets, and Cuba is a good start for them,” he said.
“Like Japan, they cannot wait on the sidelines and watch the US and China split the profits in Latin America, a region once colonised by European countries.”


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Li Keqiang

Japan’s Shinzo Abe, China’s Li Keqiang seek to shore up influence with Cuba on back-to-back visits

China looks to strengthen friendship while Japan cultivates young relationship

US President Barack Obama (L) and Cuban President Raul Castro observe a moment of silence for the terrorist attacks which took place in Belgium, before the start of a baseball game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cuban national team at the Estadio Latinoamericano in Havana on March 22, 2016. AFP PHOTO/Nicholas KAMM / AFP PHOTO / NICHOLAS KAMM

In this handout picture released by Cuban newspaper Granma, former President Fidel Castro (R) is seen during a meeting with Japanese Prime Ministro Shinzo Abe (L), in Havana on September 22, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / ALEX CASTRO HO / XGTY / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE-MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO/TELAM" NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS-DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS-GETTY OUT

A couple has their picture taken at the port of Havana near the place where Chinese Navy replenishment ship 886 Qiandaohu is moored, on November 10, 2015. AFP PHOTO/YAMIL LAGE / AFP PHOTO / YAMIL LAGE

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (centre) talks to Salvador Antonio Valdes Mesa, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and vice-president of the Council of State of Cuba upon his arrival at the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, Cuba, on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

Japan’s Shinzo Abe, China’s Li Keqiang seek to shore up influence with Cuba on back-to-back visits

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}China looks to strengthen friendship while Japan cultivates young relationship

China looks to strengthen friendship while Japan cultivates young relationship