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China, the EU and Latin America : current issues and future cooperation
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Introduction:AssessingtheEmergingTrilateralRelationsbetweenChina theEUandLatinAmerica 95 America.Hearguesthatdevelopmentcooperationisakeyelementofbiregional relations andtheEUshouldnotreduceitsaidtotheregion.HesuggeststhattheEU shouldcooperatewithmiddleincomecountriesinLatinAmericaandprovidegreateraid inspecificareastoconsolidatedevelopmentalachievements. Agreeingwiththeargumentthattheregionssufferfromtheirlackofa singlevoiceinbilateralsummits RuizarguesinChapter4thatLatinAmericais evenworseoffbecauseitlacksaregionalinstitutionliketheEU.Althoughthe bilateralsummitstakeanormativeandjudgmentalapproach theirunderpinningin termsofvaluesandinterestsisweakening.LatinAmericawillnotbecometheideal regiontheEUhasexpectedittobeforthetimebeing andLatinAmericansalso shouldnotthinkofEuropesolelyintermsofitsindividualstates especiallySpain. 1.2 SinoLatinAmericanRelationship Latin Americaand Chinaareemergingasimportantglobalpartners reflectedinthefactthattheyareseekingmorediversifiedandbalancedexternal economicrelations.Intraderelations Chinas booming demandforraw materialshascontributedgreatlytothenewcontinuousandstablegrowthof LatinAmerica.ChinaisalsoincreasingitsFDItotheregioninthesectorsof energy agricultureandinfrastructure.ItisoftenarguedthatChinaspresencein LatinAmericaisdrivenbyeconomicreasonssinceLatin Americaisahuge potentialmarketanda majorsupplierofcommodities as wellasenergy. However othervoices especiallyfrom the Chinese perspective emphasise Chinasstrengtheningofsocialandculturalties withtheregion which was underlinedinthereleaseofChinasPolicyPaperonLatinAmericaandCaribbean inNovember2008. MaiholdarguesinChapter1 therefore thatthereareafewchallengesfor theSinoLatinAmericanrelationshipfromtheEUsperspective including: Chinaslongtermdemandforrawmaterialswhichreinforcestheroleof LatinAmericaasasupplierofrawmaterialstotheglobaleconomy thecompetitionbetweenChinaandLatinAmericaforexternalinvestments thefactthatmostofthetradevolumewithChinaisconcentratedina fewLatinAmericancountries and theTaiwanissue. AmajorpreoccupationinEuropewithregardtoChinasactivitiesinLatin Americaistheextenttowhichtheregionwillmanagetodiversifyitseconomic andpoliticalagendaandexpandintofieldsotherthanraw materialsexports. ConcerningtheinfluenceofChinasLatinAmericanpolicyontheEU Sanahuja Chapter2 pointsoutthatitislimitedbecausetheEU doesnotwantto