Can China win over the locals in Latin America?
- Chinese companies must invest responsibly or resentment of Beijing will grow, experts warn
- Cultural sensitivity and engaging with communities and grassroots organisations are key
Peasant-turned-activist Elizabeth Durazno claims that a Chinese-backed mine near her village in Rio Blanco, southern Ecuador, has brought only environmental destruction.
Yet Durazno does not think that aid or investment from China would be a good solution.
While Beijing’s foothold in Latin America may increase as the continent heads for a deep economic crisis sparked by Covid-19, researchers urge Chinese companies to avoid previous mistakes, or else local resentment will grow.
Ruben Gonzalez-Vicente, lecturer in global political economy at the Leiden University in the Netherlands, says that if Chinese firms expand their investments in Latin America and the Caribbean, more frictions are likely.
While the ‘no strings attached’ lending approach sounds attractive, granting loans that cannot be paid is not a sincere demonstration of the ‘strategic alliance’, and the deep friendship that China aspires to for Latin American countries
The scholar notes that despite a spike of investment in the service sector over the past couple of years, most Chinese capital has been focused on natural resources and infrastructure contracts. Such sectors, he says, tend to have “very uneven developmental impacts in the region” and usually come “with a significant environmental footprint”.