China is outmanoeuvring US in Latin America and the Caribbean, senators are warned
- ‘China has a plan. We don’t have a plan,’ Senator Edward Markey says
- In the past two decades, Beijing has invested more than $US160 billion in the area and now counts 20 of the region’s nations as Belt and Road Initiative members
The United States is increasingly outmatched, outfinanced and outmanoeuvred by China for influence in the Western Hemisphere, lawmakers, government officials and regional experts said at a Senate hearing on Thursday.
“China has a plan. We don’t have a plan,” Senator Edward Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, said. “We are not at the table saying what we’re actually doing. You cannot preach temperance from a bar stool.”
The situation is even more concerning given that China did not even consider Latin America and the Caribbean a priority target for its signature Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) until recently, witnesses told a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee focused on the region.
Officials with the State Department, Agency for International Development and International Development Finance Corporation (IDFC) said they were working to blunt China’s enormous investments, manpower and political initiatives in the region by promoting and publicising projects with strong labour, environmental and anti-corruption standards.
That includes highlighting the often hidden costs of signing with Chinese partners, they said, citing the example of Coca Codo Sinclair, an Ecuadorean dam located astride an active volcano, built and financed by the People’s Republic of China.