China’s Growing Military Influence in Latin America Sparks Concern in US

Chinese soldiers stand for inspection during a welcoming ceremony for Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro Moros in Beijing on Sept. 22, 2013. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

As Washington keeps a wary eye on China’s recent military activities around Taiwan, another security threat is gathering strength closer to U.S. borders.

During a March 8 House Armed Services Committee hearing, two senior U.S. military commanders expressed grave concern over China’s increasing military and technology presence in Latin America.

U.S. Southern Command Army Gen. Laura Richardson told the committee that China’s activities are a “relentless march” targeting United States hegemony in the Western Hemisphere.

“This is a risk we can’t accept or ignore,” Richardson said.

China’s delivery of military hardware to Latin American governments has been anything but subtle. Between 2009 and 2019, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) transferred $634 million in military assets to five South American nations: Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Peru.

Three of these are ruled by entrenched socialist or anti-U.S. regimes.

Technological expansion also factors into Beijing’s approach to regional dominance, which has significant military applications.

“The first risk has already materialized in the sense that China’s intelligence gathering is far more widespread, advanced, and successful than anyone is willing to publicly acknowledge. The next concern is how that raw intelligence will become actionable,”  Irina Tsukerman, security analyst and founder of Scarab Rising, told The Epoch Times.

Tsukerman noted the extremely advanced stage of China’s tech investments in Latin America demonstrates ambition beyond mere “debt-trap diplomacy.” She says Beijing’s regional tech platforms have security implications that support its growing infrastructure network, undermining U.S. security interests.

And with China’s recent investment in South America’s lithium triangle, Tsukerman observed the critical mineral has uses far beyond electric vehicle (EV) battery production.

“While lithium is most closely associated with EVs, it is also an element present in military technology. So China’s interest in monopolizing the lithium extraction can be seen as another step towards controlling the military adjacent markets.”

Between 2018 and 2020, China reportedly invested $16 billion in mining projects within South America’s lithium triangle, which holds an estimated 56 percent of the world’s supply.

But the threat from China’s tech is already in America’s backyard. Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck—head of the U.S. Northern Command—noted that Beijing currently provides 80 percent of Mexico’s telecommunications.

“Cyber risks to critical infrastructure remain a significant concern and a domain awareness gap. DoD [Department of Defense] is tasked only with defending defense networks. But military facilities and missions frequently rely on civilian lifelines such as energy grids, transportation infrastructure, and other critical infrastructure,” VanHerck said in March 8 testimony.

Signage of a Huawei office is pictured in Kanata, Ont., Canada, on May 24, 2022. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

China’s tech influence in the region includes Huawei’s expansive communications network. The company’s vast coverage across Latin America, while praised by local governments, has been widely condemned by U.S. officials and civil rights groups, citing data privacy and security concerns.

Washington officials banned the CCP-backed Huawei’s cell phones and network, calling it an “unacceptable risk” to national security.

Gifts That Keep Giving

On Feb. 10, China’s ambassador to Panama, Wei Qiang, presented 6,000 ballistic vests and 6,000 tactical helmets to the country’s Ministry of Public Security. Additionally, Panama’s border security, navy, air force, and national police received gifts, including thousands of helmets and bulletproof vests.

The noteworthy donation of security equipment is one of China’s signature moves: handouts to underfunded defense services in Latin America.

But some experts say Beijing’s “gifts” are only given with one hand. They aim to take something with the other.

Panama's President Juan Carlos Varela (R) and Chinese leader Xi Jinping shake hands at the presidential palace in Panama City, on Dec. 3, 2018. (Luis Acosta/AFP/Getty Images)

“The PRC [People’s Republic of China] doesn’t just gift military equipment out of the goodness of their hearts. It’s about creating opportunities,” Evan Ellis, a research professor of Latin American studies at the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute, told The Epoch Times.

While he doesn’t believe China’s defense relations in the region are formal, Ellis says there’s value in maintaining a peripheral military presence in Latin America. A secure base of operations in the West would be important should a conflict ever develop with the United States.

Ellis said China’s delivery of military hardware and security-related donations have “long-term utility in defense relations.”

“The gifts often keep the doors open in terms of relationships for other things,” he said.

Through All Lenses

Since March, U.S. officials have attempted to quell public fears over a potential CCP invasion of Taiwan, despite the biggest American military build-up in the nearby Philippines since the Cold War.

The reassurances have rung hollow for many, especially after the CCP’s March 4 announcement of a 7 percent increase in their annual defense budget. China has the second-largest military budget in the world, topping $224 billion this year. For perspective, that’s around double the amount Beijing spent on defense in 2013.

Ellis says Latin America plays a pivotal role in China’s defense strategy. One of these includes the possibility of putting U.S. assets at risk in the event of a broader global conflict.

Evan Ellis, professor of national security studies, modeling, gaming, and simulation with the Center for Hemisphere Defense Studies, speaks on a panel April 12, at AEI on After Hugo Chavez: China’s Strategic Advance in Venezuela. (Gary Feuerberg/The Epoch Times)

“I have no doubts they’re thinking about what they could do in Latin America if they had to go to war today,” he said, adding, “You have to look at everything not only through a peacetime lens, but also a wartime lens.”

On April 11, the CCP’s military announced it was ready to fight anytime to “resolutely smash” Taiwan’s independence and “foreign interference attempts.”

In May last year, President Joe Biden said the U.S. would respond “militarily” if China attempted to take Taiwan by force. Still, some Pentagon officials say it’s unlikely Beijing will invade due to the high cost of a prolonged military engagement.

So what can account for China’s 7 percent military budget increase this year? The expanding CCP defense platform in Latin America may be a factor.

Though Ellis assures Beijing’s not-so-secretive approach to undermining U.S. security interests in the Americas has not gone unnoticed.

“I’m not the first person who works for DoD to be aware of potential Chinese options and vulnerabilities. These are threats U.S. military planners are aware of,” he said.