In a time when the United States is giving an inordinate amount of attention to deterring Russia in Eastern Ukraine, China continues to firm up its position in America’s own backyard.
The deal represents funds in excess of over $23 billion that will be utilized to tie the two countries closer together. Additional documents regarding the digital economy and aerospace were also signed.
The two reportedly talked for over an hour, whereas other official leaders visiting Beijing got a cursory meeting with Xi and were limited to exchanging standard pleasantries. Still, the ideological affinity between the two leftists is more or less irrelevant to any considerations regarding the national interests of the United States. However, what is more pressing for Washington is the geopolitical reality of having steadily increasing Chinese influence in its own backyard.
Besides economics, it is important to note the introduction of additional agreements with Argentina that deepen China’s digital footprint in the area as well, such as technology sharing deals and the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System.
The 141-country strong BRI, besides flooding the prospective country with Chinese financial resources, also brings additional economic perks that ensure governments are more firmly under Beijing’s thumb. Fernández already began lobbying Xi to fight for Argentine inclusion into the emerging economy coalition BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa).
There is a bit of irony in the outsized U.S. attention to Russian troop movements on its own territory and in Belarus, its next-door neighbor and close ally. Any unprovoked incursion into Ukraine by Russia must undoubtedly be met with international condemnation. But that ignores the reckless NATO expansion since the end of the Cold War that has brought the alliance’s border closer and closer to the Russian Federation. Additionally, deepening U.S. military coordination with Kyiv has done little to defuse the situation in Ukraine—quite the opposite, as it has forced Russian President Vladimir Putin to double down on his defense posture in the region both in order to retain international prestige as well as defend perceived national security priorities.
Meanwhile, China steadily increases its ties to countries in the United States’ direct vicinity. This is a much more threatening geographic reality for Washington, and Beijing is a much more dangerous rising threat than is Moscow. On top of ignoring its own pressing national interests and their potential security implications in its own backyard, engaging in continued saber rattling with Russia further pushes the Kremlin toward the CCP.
The United States should be seeking to strengthen its outreach to its allies; more than this, it should also be seeking to increase its economic involvement with developing countries, especially in Latin America—because China is.
Today, the United States has often fallen short of engaging with its Latin American neighbors in a manner that is mutually beneficial to both. Additionally, countries in the 21st century should be free to associate with international partners. A return to the Cold War approach of confrontation and subsequent exploitation in the region is not a strategy for the modern era. However, outmaneuvering China to provide real material benefit and better deals to countries in the region is not only economically advantageous, but is also essential to strengthening U.S. security in its geographical proximity.
The international priorities of the United States are largely out of focus with reality. Its actions counterintuitively increase the likelihood of military confrontation in Eastern Europe. Worse than this, keeping the image of a powerful and dangerous Russian international player on life-support deflects limited resources and attention that should be focused on the true rising threat: the CCP.
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