Strategic Partnership:China’s Relations With Latin America From1978to2012

This final paper includes new tendencies in evolution of relations between China and the countries of Central and South America. The work composes background analysis of the creation of the relations between the different countries and tendencies of further development of Sino-Latin American relations in the political, economic and cultural sphere. Trade-economic relations of the countries are also described in the work.Economic and trade relations between China and Latin American countries have arisen in1560, when between the Chinese coastal area and the Mexican coast has been established the so-called "Silk Road".Most Latin American countries gained independence from their mother countries Spain and Portugal only in the20’s of the19th century. Against the backdrop of social stratification and racial heterogeneity in the internal affairs of the different countries the army constantly interfered with coups and the resulting empowering of one or the other dictator. Plagued by internal conflicts, the Latin American countries, however, always went to war and into territorial disputes with its neighbors, especially in the19th century.In the50’s, attracting modern technology and foreign capital was part of a new strategy for the modernization of Latin American countries and the essence of which was the denationalization and promotion of the free market economy. Thus, in the region there was a radical rethinking of the state in the areas of the social life, where in the past was paid exaggerated attention to the role of the state. The main source of modernization was the wide attraction of foreign capital in the form of investments, loans and credits.In China, some decades later, on the initiative of Deng Xiaoping, have been initiated the Policies of Reform and Opening up in1978. Along with new opportunities for profit and ensuring a well-off standard of living and the great revival of the Chinese nation, has been coming also growing inequality in income and new temptations for crime and corruption.In the foreign policy of China the attention to the countries of the so-called "Third World" has sharply increased, where the Chinese government has a role as the main force in the struggle against the superpowers. One of the regions for which Beijing considerably increased its economic, political and ideological activity is without any doubt Latin America.China’s political tactics in this region since the end of World War II, have undergone significant transformation. However, its strategic goals remain unchanged. Comparing the results of the development of Sino-Latin American relations before and after the70’s, we have to admit that in a relatively short period of time, China has achieved notable results in this area. China has for example been able to strengthen and expand its economic and political positions in most major Latin American countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Peru, Venezuela and a number of Caribbean countries.The cooperation between the countries of Latin America and China takes certainly not only place in the trade and economic sector. In the1980’s, Sino-Latin American relations were characterized by numerous exchanges of scientists, professionals, sportsmen and military members.In the90’s have been introduced new elements in the system of relations between China-Latin America. This time has been the decade of qualitative changes in the political and economic fields for Latin America, that greatly influenced the international activities of the region.A special place in the foreign policy of China in Latin America is the relationship with Brazil, to which in this work was given much prominence. The cooperation between Brazil and China is mainly within the interaction of the countries in such organizations as BRICS and Forum of East Asia and Latin America. Both China and Brazil, tend to the conclusion of the bilateral relations to a strategic partnership, arguing that the justification for this line are common interests and goals. The two countries have maintained an intensive political dialogue.After the analysis of the main tendencies of cooperation’s development the conclusion about further perspectives of bilateral relation and in particular contact between representatives of both countries was made. The conclusion shows that this objective process accords with the national interests of both sides. Another important aspect in the relations between China and Latin America is the role of Taiwan. By the majority of the UN member states Taiwan is not recognized and the tendency is that its "successor" in history (the PRC) takes more and more the role of "the Republic of China".Taiwan officially segregated from China in1949, when all contacts between the mainland and the island have been suspended. But throughout the20th century, China continued attempts to re-connect the island to strengthen its territory. Currently, only23countries recognize the sovereignty of Taiwan,12of them are located in Latin America and the Caribbean. Taiwan tries, therefore, to cooperate with some organizations such as the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Countries.The relevance of the topic is connected, first of all, with the growing role of China in the world economy and politics, as well as a noticeable increase in the level of its comprehensive relations with Latin America at present.The object of study in this paper is the special relationship between Latin American countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, etc.) and the People’s Republic of China, their development at the present stage and future prospects. Additionally it has been tried to identify strengths and weaknesses of the participating countries and their development prospects. For the implementation of the goal were required the following tasks:1. Determine the role of Latin America and the ever-increasing importance of China in the world2. Determine the state of Sino-Latin American relations today3. Describe the relations and policies of China in Latin AmericaThe structure of this work includes:introduction, three chapters,9paragraphs, conclusion, references and appendix.