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China, the EU and Latin America : current issues and future cooperation
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ANewEraforChinaLatinAmericanRelations:MoreOpportunitiesthanChallenges 49 marketsbymeansoftradeandinvestment.TheyhaveconfidenceinAmericas economicandgeographicaladvantageoverChina.Meanwhile someanalysts arguethatChinasinvolvementintheregioncouldposeafuturethreattoUS influence.TheyevenarguethatsomeLatinAmericancountrieslooktoChinaas aneconomicandpoliticalalternativetothe Washington Consensusand US hegemony.Chinastiestothosecountriesruledbyleftleaningpoliticianswith anantiAmericancharacterhavealsobeencriticised.ThesemixedUSreactions towardChinaspresenceinLatinAmericareflectthecompetingperspectivesof globalisationandgeopolitics. Chinesescholarshavealsoarguedthatitisnecessarytoexplainandclarify byallmeansthatChinawillnotharmthirdpartyinterestsandwilllookonthe confrontationwiththeU.S.whenitentersLatinAmerica ZhuandLiu2008 BecauseofChinaslowprofilediplomacy neutralpoliticalpositionandregular dialogueswiththeUSAonLatinAmericanaffairs Washingtoniswatchfulbut notalarmed Hakim2006 .TheUSAisconfidentthatitwillcontinuetobethe longtermpartnerofpreferencefortheregion. ToassesstrilateralrelationsbetweentheUSA ChinaandLatinAmericain apositivelight weneedtoclarifywhattheircommoninterestsare.Forthe USA LatinAmericaisthelargestforeignsupplierofoil astrongpartnerin developingalternativefuelsandoneofthefastestgrowingtradingpartners.Ifit istoproperlyaddressitsownconcerns includingillegalmigrationanddrug trafficking the USA needsto helptheregionto deal with povertyand inequality publicsecurity migrationandenergysecurity.China ontheother hand needs accessto regionalenergy and markets and to ensurethe cooperationoftheregioninreformingthecurrentinternationalsystem.Latin Americaneedsinvestment tradeandtechnologyto meetthechallengesof developmentandglobalisation.Basedontheseindividualinterests anumberof sharedinterestscanbederived.Chinasinvestmentsintheenergysectorcan increasetheenergysupplytoall stabiliseworldenergypricesandboostregional development.Andasalreadymentioned aprosperousLatinAmericawillalso sendoutagoodmessagefortheglobaleconomy whichbenefitsall. Thisissimilartothesituationin Africa whereboomingChinaAfrica relationshaveencouragedtheEUtoimproveitsrelationswithAfrica.Acloser ChinaLatinAmericarelationship willalsopersuadethe USA topay more attentiontotheregionsneedssinceitsfocushasshiftedtootherregionssince September11.AcomprehensiveapproachonthepartofboththeUSAandthe EUtothesetwodevelopingregionswillalsohelptodevelopChinasforeign policy.TheChinesegovernmentattachesimportancetolocaljobcreationand