The recent agreement of the Trans-Pacific Partnership is about far more than trade. It’s about creating a new international regime in the Pacific that will reinforce trade rules, smooth inter-state relations and promote international harmony with China.
The World Bank annual meeting in Lima, Peru this weeks offers a unique opportunity. While China’s massive investments in infrastructure are much-needed, they come with huge risks. The World Bank can reduce those by working with these new efforts—with all their capital—to apply the Bank’s experience in protecting the environment and local communities.
Using ECLAC data, we constructed a graph tracing the past 20 years of exports from South America to China as a percentage of their total exports. In this light, it’s not surprising that those are the same four countries the Chinese premier visited last month.
While much of the media and policy attention has focused on China, Russia and Iran’s involvement in the region—often with handwringing or finger pointing—India has become a player in its own right. Unlike China, the South Asian giant’s economic interests and practices in the region are more compatible to Latin American economies and development.
The proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership is about far more than trade. It’s about creating a new international regime in the Pacific that will reinforce trade rules, smooth inter-state relations and promote international harmony with China.
Given Latin America’s woefully inadequate infrastructure, China’s plans to invest in roads and rails is a welcome opportunity. The question becomes, though, under what conditions for bidding and procurement and the protections for community land rights.
China has increased the sale of sophisticated weapons systems to Latin America and the Caribbean, mostly–though not exclusively–to countries opposed to the United States. With it has come other forms of military cooperation between China and its new customers. Should the U.S. be worried? If so, what can it do about it?
