Latin America: Second Chinese ‘spy’ balloon over Latin America creates a diplomatic maelstrom
Amid a visit from Secretary Antony Blinken to China – the first since 2018 – Pentagon officials reported on Friday that a ‘Chinese surveillance’ balloon was spotted over Latin America, similar to the one reported over US airspace on Tuesday. The Chinese government claims the balloon is for meteorological research.
Notwithstanding, in already strained US-China relations, the US government decided to postpone the diplomatic visit to Beijing.
The implications over Chinese devices over the US and Latin America might add extra pressure to Biden’s China policy over the coming days. It comes at a time where the administration must weigh the implications of an unidentified device of foreign origin over sensitive sites while attempting to repair a key bilateral relationship that the previous administration damaged. In what is seen as an incident ‘incredibly embarrassing for Beijing, it reinforces concerns that most Western nations justifiably harbour about China’s great power ambitions,’ according to Craig Singleton for NBC news, a senior China fellow at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies. These great power ambitions include China’s large – and growing – footprint in Latin America.
Diplomatic implications of the incident affect not only US-China relations, but also the major power plays in Latin America by Beijing. It is quickly overtaking other institutions in the region such as the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank as the largest holder of debt in the region. Indeed, China is now the second largest trading partner in the region just behind the US and closing that gap quickly. This should worry the Biden administration. Great power competition is currently unfolding within Latin America, and part of that debate seems to include whether the region should further increase its dependence on Chinese investment. As regional tensions rise between major regional players such as Mexico, Argentina, Peru and Colombia over the impeachment and imprisonment of former Peruvian President Pedro Castillo, disagreements within the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States are growing. Particularly on its approach to China.
Uruguay has been seeking a Free Trade Agreement with China (FTA), and the Mexican government, currently undergoing a nationalistic, leftist administration under President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has strained the key bilateral relationship with the US, further turning to China as a global partner. On the other hand, President Lula of Brazil has expressed much more cautiones when brokering a trade deal with China. Key global debates on the formation of new trade, technology and financing paradigms are all unfolding within Latin America – the question is whether the region sees either the US or China as a more reliable partner in addressing these new realities. The balloon incident illustrates how Latin America has become a battlefield for exogenous pressure from both the United States and China. Tensions between Washington and Beijing have stirred debate on how Latin America should position between the two; a debate on whether the US – with a questionable track record in Latin America – can find more common ground throughout the Americas than China. The implication is that China can displace major trade partners, including the regional partners themselves. If the United States and Europe do not match efforts done by Beijing to create a holistic, comprehensive regional project, Latin America’s relations with the West may change.
What does all this mean?
Should the United States fail to solidify its presence in Latin America, it leaves the region open to economic and political influence by Beijing.
Latin America is of strategic importance in the recalibration of a more balanced hegemonic world between the United States and China.
Latin American countries – particularly Mexico – may use incidents like this to position themselves as growing logistics, industrial and service platforms for both the US and China.