China and "mask diplomacy" with Latin America

September 2018. United Nations General Assembly. Donald Trump addresses those present, dusting off an old strategy that his country has carried out and that seemed to be forgotten: the Monroe Doctrine. "Here in the Western Hemisphere, we are committed to maintaining our independence from the intrusion of foreign expansionist powers," the U.S. president said. "It has been the formal policy of our country since the present Monroe that we reject interference by foreign nations in this hemisphere and in our own affairs," he added. That doctrine, used for expansion throughout the hemisphere and ended by Barack Obama in 2013, which had the slogan "America for the Americans" as its flag, was recalled by Trump.

With these words, the president wanted to make it clear that no foreign nation would extend its power in Latin America, pointing, without naming it, to China. However, the Asian giant has increased its economic and political presence in the Southern Hemisphere in recent years, and is now Argentina's, Brazil's and Peru's main trading partner and the main destination for exports from Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Peru and Uruguay.

As in Africa, China sees Latin American countries as trading partners and as places to invest with the benefit of extending its influence and becoming an important ally of the misnamed "US back door".

Beijing presented itself as the alternative to the United States, and did not condition its investments on the countries' democratic guarantees, so Caracas, Havana or Managua received it with open arms. In fact, during the economic crisis of 2008, China already financed and boosted Latin American economies by acquiring basic products such as oil, wood and metallic minerals.

Although the growing dependence of Latin American countries may generate a strong indebtedness of these countries with China, the conditions imposed by the Asian country for financial returns are much lighter than those required, for example, by the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund.

Contrary to what Donald Trump announced during his speech at the United Nations in New York, his policy towards Latin America has focused on immigration, in order to "protect its borders from rapists and murderers", as he stated in some statements, and not based so much on international cooperation. What has been seen with the coronavirus crisis is that the lack of North American leadership has been replaced by Beijing. In mid-April, Trump announced a halt to the delivery of resources to the World Health Organization (WHO) and went ahead with budget cuts to the Pan American Health Organization, an agency that prevents and contains outbreaks of communicable diseases.

The pandemic has put health systems, economies and diplomatic relations at the forefront. And in the face of Washington's neglect of Latin America, the latter is looking to China, which knows how to carry out a "good Samaritan" policy and has gone from being the origin and epicentre of the virus to the biggest health aid donor.

At the beginning of April, the Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Marcelo Ebrad, wrote on his personal Twitter account: "Thank you China!". This is how Mexico expressed its gratitude for the arrival of a plane with more than 100,000 masks, 50,000 test kits and five artificial respirators donated by Xi Jinping's government. Mexico has also bought medical equipment from China worth 56.4 million dollars.

Another country receiving aid was Venezuela. In a social, economic and political crisis that seems to have no end, the health crisis may be a defining element in the explosion of the pressure cooker that the Latin American country has become. China delivered 4,000 tests in mid-March, after the International Monetary Fund denied $5 billion that Nicolas Maduro had asked for to solve the crisis. In addition, Caracas welcomed a delegation of eight Chinese specialists to deal with the coronavirus crisis.

Bolivia has also been another beneficiary country. The Chinese ambassador in Bolivia, Huang Yazhong, handed over a donation made by the Chinese company Alibaba, which consisted of 100,000 masks, 20,000 tests and five respirators.

Similarly, and according to the Argentinean newspaper La Nación, the Government of Alberto Fernández also received 2,500 diagnostic tests, 5,000 protective suits, 66,000 masks, 2,000 gloves and 53 thermometers.

These numbers are evidence of the policy carried out by China, which has focused on cooperation. Furthermore, these gestures may translate in the near future into greater dependence on the Asian country, which is not missing out on the situation provided by the virus on the geopolitical chessboard. A strategy that seems to be changing the narrative regarding the origin of the virus and that is improving its image in the eyes of the citizens of China, not only in Latin America, but also in Europe with its multiple donations and sales to countries such as Italy or Spain.

Another of the possible questions raised by this crisis is how the states' economies will emerge from it. It is possible that China will offer to carry out a rescue similar to that of 2008 with Latin American nations, but it is not known at what price and in exchange for what.

With Washington focused on its domestic problems and despite Trump's announcement at the U.N. Assembly, Beijing has become the center of international relations management and occupies the top spot on the geopolitical chessboard.