CHINA AND LATIN AMERICA - PARTNERSHIP FOR A NEW WORLD

Brazil's huge new port highlights China's

drive into South America

Investments guarantee Chinese access to soy, oil and other badly

needed resources

The Guardian

Wednesday 15 September 2010

The 'super port' in Sao Joao da Barra is the largest port

investment in Brazil and will have capacity for the largest

ships in the world. Photograph: Douglas Engle/Australfoto

Blades slicing through the morning heat, the helicopter

rose from the tarmac and swept into a cobalt sky, high

above Rio's Guanabara Bay.

It powered north-east over deserted beaches, dense Atlantic

rainforest and fishing boats that bobbed lazily in the

ocean below. Then finally, 80 minutes on, the destination

came into view: a gigantic concrete pier that juts nearly

two miles out into the South Atlantic and boasts an unusual

nickname: the Highway to China.

Dotted with orange-clad construction workers and propped up

by dozens of 38-tonne pillars, this vast concrete structure

is part of the Superporto do Acu, a £1.6bn port and

industrial complex that is being erected on the Rio

coastline, on an area equivalent to 12,000 football

pitches.

Reputedly the largest industrial port complex of its type

in the world, Açu is also one of the most visible symbols

of China's rapidly accelerating drive into Brazil and South

America as it looks to guarantee access to much-needed

natural resources and bolster its support base in the

developing world.

When Acu opens for business in 2012, its 10-berth pier will

play host to a globetrotting armada of cargo ships, among

them the 380-metre wide ChinaMax – the largest vessel of

its type, capable of ferrying 400,000 tonnes of cargo.

Millions of tonnes of iron ore, grain, soy and millions of

barrels of oil are expected to pass along the "Highway"

each year on their way east, where they will alleviate

China's seemingly unquenchable thirst for natural

resources.

"This project marks a new phase in relations between Brazil

and China," Rio's economic development secretary, Julio

Bueno, said during the recent visit of about 100 Chinese

businessmen to the port complex, which is being built by

the Brazilian logistics company LLX and should receive

billions of dollars of Chinese investment.

This new phase of engagement with Brazil and South America,

is part of China's "going out strategy" – an economic and,

some say, diplomatic push for Chinese companies, many of

them state-run, to invest abroad, snapping up access to

minerals, energy and food by pouring the country's colossal

foreign reserves into overseas companies and projects.

China is expected to overtake Japan as the world's second

largest economy this year and may already be the world's

greatest energy consumer. Now it is set to become Brazil's

top foreign investor, with its companies plowing $20bn into

the country in the first six months of 2010, compared with

$83m in 2009. A recent study by Deloitte predicted that

Chinese investments in Brazil could hit an average of about

$40bn a year between now and 2014, with companies throwing

money at sectors ranging from telecommunications,

infrastructure and farming, to oil, biofuels, natural gas,

mining and steel manufacturing.

"Relations with Brazil in all areas have entered a new

era," Qiu Xiaoqi, China's ambassador in Brazil, recently

told the state news agency Xinhua.

The surge in China's South American spending is not just a

Brazilian phenomenon. Ecuador has already signed around

$5bn of bilateral deals with China this year, including

$1.7bn to help build a hydro-electric dam and $1bn

investments for oil exploration and infrastructure

projects. That compared with Chinese investment of just

$56m in 2009.

Chinese companies have sunk $1.4bn into mining operations

in Peru this year, while in April Hugo Chávez announced

that the Chinese, already major sponsors of Venezuelan oil

exploration, had agreed to open a $20bn credit-line for the

"Bolivarian revolution".

Michael Klare, author of Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet, a

book about the growing tussle for global resources,

described today's China as "the shopaholic of planet

Earth".

"The Chinese authorities understand that to sustain the

country's continued growth, they will have to ensure that

its industries are provided with adequate supplies of

energy, minerals, and other basic raw materials," he said.

But the "going out" strategy went far beyond business

transactions, he added.

"They seek to fashion a multipolar world in which no single

power – read the United States – plays an overwhelmingly

dominant role. To this end, they seek to bolster ties with

rising regional powers like Brazil and South Africa."

In Sao Joao da Barra, the city nearest to Acu and one of

Rio state's poorest regions, the Chinese presence is being

felt even before Brazil's Highway to China is complete.

Keen to impress, LLX staff at the Açu port lay on hot water

and Mandarin interpreters for visiting Chinese dignitaries.

Sao Joao da Barra's town hall, meanwhile, has started

offering free Mandarin lessons to locals interested in

working with the wave of Chinese guests that is

anticipated.

"You should see a 10-year-old boy saying, 'I understand …

the Chinese are coming and when the Chinese industries come

I want to work for them and if I speak Mandarin I'll have a

competitive advantage on the others'," beamed Eike Batista,

the billionaire entrepreneur behind the superport and one

of the most vocal cheerleaders for Chinese advances into

Brazil. "[It is] wonderful."

Leonardo Gadelha, LLX's CFO, said during a recent tour of

the port: "This is part of a Chinese strategy of going to

the market more and more. They are already a very

considerable presence in Africa and we are now going

through this moment in Brazil."

The Highway to China lay "in the middle" of this blossoming

relationship with China, he said, adding: "We are betting

that … this will continue growing."

Not all Brazilians, or indeed western governments, share

such enthusiasm.

"There are many in Washington who worry about China's

growing presence in Africa and Latin America and claim that

this poses a threat to America's long-term strategic

interests," said Klare, noting, however, that the US'

"fixation" with Afghanistan and the war on terror meant

there had been virtually no reaction.

In Brazil meanwhile China's arrival has prompted cries of

neo-colonialism. "The Chinese have bought Africa and now

they are trying to buy Brazil," the prominent economist

Antônio Delfim Netto complained in a recent interview with

the Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper, warning that it was a

"grave mistake" to allow a foreign state to buy "land,

minerals [and] natural resources" from another sovereign

power.

Batista, Brazil's richest man, rejected such criticism,

saying: "The association between Brazil and China is a

two-way highway." Chinese companies such as Wuhan Iron and

Steel had committed to helping build a $5bn steel mill at

the port complex, rather than always shipping out primary

resources to process at home, he pointed out. "You want to

get three tonnes of raw iron ore, [so] produce one tonne of

steel in Brazil," he said. "That philosophy is sinking in

and is great for both sides."

Neither would Chinese companies be allowed to flood the

complex with hordes of foreign workers as had happened in

Africa, said Gadelha, the CFO.

"If it was up to them they would bring lots of Chinese

workers as they are used to doing," he admitted. "[But]

Brazil's legislation is very strict in this sense."

Batista suggested that rather than complaining about

China's courtship of Brazil, western powers should urge

their own companies to pay more attention to the region

themselves.

"In the last 15 years or so the [American and European]

CEOs have stopped coming here and that is why they are a

little bit behind," he said. "We are pushing European

companies and saying: 'You're not really understanding what

is happening in Brazil'."

"Don't put Brazil in the same bag as our neighbours," he

added. "We are not Central America. We are not Venezuela.

We are not Argentina."

============================

Beijing's deals

Brazil In November 2009 Brazilian energy giant Petrobras

signed a $10bn loan deal with China's Development Bank. As

part of the deal Petrobras will guarantee the supply of

200,000 barrels of oil per day to China over the next 10

years. Chinese companies and state banks pumped around

$20bn into Brazil in the first half of this year

Venezuela Hugo Chávez, pictured, unveiled a $20bn credit

line from China's Development Bank to fund the "Bolivarian

revolution" in April

Ecuador The country has already signed around $5bn of

bilateral deals with China this year, including $1.7bn to

help build a hydro-electric dam and $1bn investments for

oil exploration and infrastructure projects. In 2009 direct

Chinese investment in the country was just $56m

Peru Chinese companies invested $1.4bn in mining operations

in Peru during the first four months of this year, making

China the country's second largest trade partner

CHINA AND LATIN AMERICA - PARTNERSHIP FOR A NEW WORLD

Brazil's huge new port highlights China's drive

into South America

Investments guarantee Chinese access to soy, oil and other badly

needed resources

The Guardian

Wednesday 15 September 2010

The 'super port' in Sao Joao da Barra is the largest port

investment in Brazil and will have capacity for the largest

ships in the world. Photograph: Douglas Engle/Australfoto

Blades slicing through the morning heat, the helicopter

rose from the tarmac and swept into a cobalt sky, high

above Rio's Guanabara Bay.

It powered north-east over deserted beaches, dense Atlantic

rainforest and fishing boats that bobbed lazily in the

ocean below. Then finally, 80 minutes on, the destination

came into view: a gigantic concrete pier that juts nearly

two miles out into the South Atlantic and boasts an unusual

nickname: the Highway to China.

Dotted with orange-clad construction workers and propped up

by dozens of 38-tonne pillars, this vast concrete structure

is part of the Superporto do Acu, a £1.6bn port and

industrial complex that is being erected on the Rio

coastline, on an area equivalent to 12,000 football

pitches.

Reputedly the largest industrial port complex of its type

in the world, Açu is also one of the most visible symbols

of China's rapidly accelerating drive into Brazil and South

America as it looks to guarantee access to much-needed

natural resources and bolster its support base in the

developing world.

When Acu opens for business in 2012, its 10-berth pier will

play host to a globetrotting armada of cargo ships, among

them the 380-metre wide ChinaMax – the largest vessel of

its type, capable of ferrying 400,000 tonnes of cargo.

Millions of tonnes of iron ore, grain, soy and millions of

barrels of oil are expected to pass along the "Highway"

each year on their way east, where they will alleviate

China's seemingly unquenchable thirst for natural

resources.

"This project marks a new phase in relations between Brazil

and China," Rio's economic development secretary, Julio

Bueno, said during the recent visit of about 100 Chinese

businessmen to the port complex, which is being built by

the Brazilian logistics company LLX and should receive

billions of dollars of Chinese investment.

This new phase of engagement with Brazil and South America,

is part of China's "going out strategy" – an economic and,

some say, diplomatic push for Chinese companies, many of

them state-run, to invest abroad, snapping up access to

minerals, energy and food by pouring the country's colossal

foreign reserves into overseas companies and projects.

China is expected to overtake Japan as the world's second

largest economy this year and may already be the world's

greatest energy consumer. Now it is set to become Brazil's

top foreign investor, with its companies plowing $20bn into

the country in the first six months of 2010, compared with

$83m in 2009. A recent study by Deloitte predicted that

Chinese investments in Brazil could hit an average of about

$40bn a year between now and 2014, with companies throwing

money at sectors ranging from telecommunications,

infrastructure and farming, to oil, biofuels, natural gas,

mining and steel manufacturing.

"Relations with Brazil in all areas have entered a new

era," Qiu Xiaoqi, China's ambassador in Brazil, recently

told the state news agency Xinhua.

The surge in China's South American spending is not just a

Brazilian phenomenon. Ecuador has already signed around

$5bn of bilateral deals with China this year, including

$1.7bn to help build a hydro-electric dam and $1bn

investments for oil exploration and infrastructure

projects. That compared with Chinese investment of just

$56m in 2009.

Chinese companies have sunk $1.4bn into mining operations

in Peru this year, while in April Hugo Chávez announced

that the Chinese, already major sponsors of Venezuelan oil

exploration, had agreed to open a $20bn credit-line for the

"Bolivarian revolution".

Michael Klare, author of Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet, a

book about the growing tussle for global resources,

described today's China as "the shopaholic of planet

Earth".

"The Chinese authorities understand that to sustain the

country's continued growth, they will have to ensure that

its industries are provided with adequate supplies of

energy, minerals, and other basic raw materials," he said.

But the "going out" strategy went far beyond business

transactions, he added.

"They seek to fashion a multipolar world in which no single

power – read the United States – plays an overwhelmingly

dominant role. To this end, they seek to bolster ties with

rising regional powers like Brazil and South Africa."

In Sao Joao da Barra, the city nearest to Acu and one of

Rio state's poorest regions, the Chinese presence is being

felt even before Brazil's Highway to China is complete.

Keen to impress, LLX staff at the Açu port lay on hot water

and Mandarin interpreters for visiting Chinese dignitaries.

Sao Joao da Barra's town hall, meanwhile, has started

offering free Mandarin lessons to locals interested in

working with the wave of Chinese guests that is

anticipated.

"You should see a 10-year-old boy saying, 'I understand …

the Chinese are coming and when the Chinese industries come

I want to work for them and if I speak Mandarin I'll have a

competitive advantage on the others'," beamed Eike Batista,

the billionaire entrepreneur behind the superport and one

of the most vocal cheerleaders for Chinese advances into

Brazil. "[It is] wonderful."

Leonardo Gadelha, LLX's CFO, said during a recent tour of

the port: "This is part of a Chinese strategy of going to

the market more and more. They are already a very

considerable presence in Africa and we are now going

through this moment in Brazil."

The Highway to China lay "in the middle" of this blossoming

relationship with China, he said, adding: "We are betting

that … this will continue growing."

Not all Brazilians, or indeed western governments, share

such enthusiasm.

"There are many in Washington who worry about China's

growing presence in Africa and Latin America and claim that

this poses a threat to America's long-term strategic

interests," said Klare, noting, however, that the US'

"fixation" with Afghanistan and the war on terror meant

there had been virtually no reaction.

In Brazil meanwhile China's arrival has prompted cries of

neo-colonialism. "The Chinese have bought Africa and now

they are trying to buy Brazil," the prominent economist

Antônio Delfim Netto complained in a recent interview with

the Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper, warning that it was a

"grave mistake" to allow a foreign state to buy "land,

minerals [and] natural resources" from another sovereign

power.

Batista, Brazil's richest man, rejected such criticism,

saying: "The association between Brazil and China is a

two-way highway." Chinese companies such as Wuhan Iron and

Steel had committed to helping build a $5bn steel mill at

the port complex, rather than always shipping out primary

resources to process at home, he pointed out. "You want to

get three tonnes of raw iron ore, [so] produce one tonne of

steel in Brazil," he said. "That philosophy is sinking in

and is great for both sides."

Neither would Chinese companies be allowed to flood the

complex with hordes of foreign workers as had happened in

Africa, said Gadelha, the CFO.

"If it was up to them they would bring lots of Chinese

workers as they are used to doing," he admitted. "[But]

Brazil's legislation is very strict in this sense."

Batista suggested that rather than complaining about

China's courtship of Brazil, western powers should urge

their own companies to pay more attention to the region

themselves.

"In the last 15 years or so the [American and European]

CEOs have stopped coming here and that is why they are a

little bit behind," he said. "We are pushing European

companies and saying: 'You're not really understanding what

is happening in Brazil'."

"Don't put Brazil in the same bag as our neighbours," he

added. "We are not Central America. We are not Venezuela.

We are not Argentina."

============================

Beijing's deals

Brazil In November 2009 Brazilian energy giant Petrobras

signed a $10bn loan deal with China's Development Bank. As

part of the deal Petrobras will guarantee the supply of

200,000 barrels of oil per day to China over the next 10

years. Chinese companies and state banks pumped around

$20bn into Brazil in the first half of this year

Venezuela Hugo Chávez, pictured, unveiled a $20bn credit

line from China's Development Bank to fund the "Bolivarian

revolution" in April

Ecuador The country has already signed around $5bn of

bilateral deals with China this year, including $1.7bn to

help build a hydro-electric dam and $1bn investments for

oil exploration and infrastructure projects. In 2009 direct

Chinese investment in the country was just $56m

Peru Chinese companies invested $1.4bn in mining operations

in Peru during the first four months of this year, making

China the country's second largest trade partner

CHINA AND LATIN AMERICA - PARTNERSHIP FOR A NEW WORLD

Brazil's huge new port highlights China's drive

into South America

Investments guarantee Chinese access to soy, oil and other badly

needed resources

The Guardian

Wednesday 15 September 2010

The 'super port' in Sao Joao da Barra is the largest port investment

in Brazil and will have capacity for the largest ships in the world.

Photograph: Douglas Engle/Australfoto Blades slicing through the

morning heat, the helicopter rose from the tarmac and swept into a

cobalt sky, high above Rio's Guanabara Bay.

It powered north-east over deserted beaches, dense Atlantic

rainforest and fishing boats that bobbed lazily in the ocean below.

Then finally, 80 minutes on, the destination came into view: a

gigantic concrete pier that juts nearly two miles out into the South

Atlantic and boasts an unusual nickname: the Highway to China.

Dotted with orange-clad construction workers and propped up by dozens

of 38-tonne pillars, this vast concrete structure is part of the

Superporto do Acu, a £1.6bn port and industrial complex that is being

erected on the Rio coastline, on an area equivalent to 12,000

football pitches.

Reputedly the largest industrial port complex of its type in the

world, Açu is also one of the most visible symbols of China's rapidly

accelerating drive into Brazil and South America as it looks to

guarantee access to much-needed natural resources and bolster its

support base in the developing world.

When Acu opens for business in 2012, its 10-berth pier will play host

to a globetrotting armada of cargo ships, among them the 380-metre

wide ChinaMax – the largest vessel of its type, capable of ferrying

400,000 tonnes of cargo.

Millions of tonnes of iron ore, grain, soy and millions of barrels of

oil are expected to pass along the "Highway" each year on their way

east, where they will alleviate China's seemingly unquenchable thirst

for natural resources.

"This project marks a new phase in relations between Brazil and

China," Rio's economic development secretary, Julio Bueno, said

during the recent visit of about 100 Chinese businessmen to the port

complex, which is being built by the Brazilian logistics company LLX

and should receive billions of dollars of Chinese investment.

This new phase of engagement with Brazil and South America, is part

of China's "going out strategy" – an economic and, some say,

diplomatic push for Chinese companies, many of them state-run, to

invest abroad, snapping up access to minerals, energy and food by

pouring the country's colossal foreign reserves into overseas

companies and projects.

China is expected to overtake Japan as the world's second largest

economy this year and may already be the world's greatest energy

consumer. Now it is set to become Brazil's top foreign investor, with

its companies plowing $20bn into the country in the first six months

of 2010, compared with $83m in 2009. A recent study by Deloitte

predicted that Chinese investments in Brazil could hit an average of

about $40bn a year between now and 2014, with companies throwing

money at sectors ranging from telecommunications, infrastructure and

farming, to oil, biofuels, natural gas, mining and steel

manufacturing.

"Relations with Brazil in all areas have entered a new era," Qiu

Xiaoqi, China's ambassador in Brazil, recently told the state news

agency Xinhua.

The surge in China's South American spending is not just a Brazilian

phenomenon. Ecuador has already signed around $5bn of bilateral deals

with China this year, including $1.7bn to help build a hydro-electric

dam and $1bn investments for oil exploration and infrastructure

projects. That compared with Chinese investment of just $56m in 2009.

Chinese companies have sunk $1.4bn into mining operations in Peru

this year, while in April Hugo Chávez announced that the Chinese,

already major sponsors of Venezuelan oil exploration, had agreed to

open a $20bn credit-line for the "Bolivarian revolution".

Michael Klare, author of Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet, a book

about the growing tussle for global resources, described today's

China as "the shopaholic of planet Earth".

"The Chinese authorities understand that to sustain the country's

continued growth, they will have to ensure that its industries are

provided with adequate supplies of energy, minerals, and other basic

raw materials," he said. But the "going out" strategy went far beyond

business transactions, he added.

"They seek to fashion a multipolar world in which no single power –

read the United States – plays an overwhelmingly dominant role. To

this end, they seek to bolster ties with rising regional powers like

Brazil and South Africa."

In Sao Joao da Barra, the city nearest to Acu and one of Rio state's

poorest regions, the Chinese presence is being felt even before

Brazil's Highway to China is complete.

Keen to impress, LLX staff at the Açu port lay on hot water and

Mandarin interpreters for visiting Chinese dignitaries. Sao Joao da

Barra's town hall, meanwhile, has started offering free Mandarin

lessons to locals interested in working with the wave of Chinese

guests that is anticipated.

"You should see a 10-year-old boy saying, 'I understand … the Chinese

are coming and when the Chinese industries come I want to work for

them and if I speak Mandarin I'll have a competitive advantage on the

others'," beamed Eike Batista, the billionaire entrepreneur behind

the superport and one of the most vocal cheerleaders for Chinese

advances into Brazil. "[It is] wonderful."

Leonardo Gadelha, LLX's CFO, said during a recent tour of the port:

"This is part of a Chinese strategy of going to the market more and

more. They are already a very considerable presence in Africa and we

are now going through this moment in Brazil."

The Highway to China lay "in the middle" of this blossoming

relationship with China, he said, adding: "We are betting that … this

will continue growing."

Not all Brazilians, or indeed western governments, share such

enthusiasm.

"There are many in Washington who worry about China's growing

presence in Africa and Latin America and claim that this poses a

threat to America's long-term strategic interests," said Klare,

noting, however, that the US' "fixation" with Afghanistan and the war

on terror meant there had been virtually no reaction.

In Brazil meanwhile China's arrival has prompted cries of

neo-colonialism. "The Chinese have bought Africa and now they are

trying to buy Brazil," the prominent economist Antônio Delfim Netto

complained in a recent interview with the Estado de Sao Paulo

newspaper, warning that it was a "grave mistake" to allow a foreign

state to buy "land, minerals [and] natural resources" from another

sovereign power.

Batista, Brazil's richest man, rejected such criticism, saying: "The

association between Brazil and China is a two-way highway." Chinese

companies such as Wuhan Iron and Steel had committed to helping build

a $5bn steel mill at the port complex, rather than always shipping

out primary resources to process at home, he pointed out. "You want

to get three tonnes of raw iron ore, [so] produce one tonne of steel

in Brazil," he said. "That philosophy is sinking in and is great for

both sides."

Neither would Chinese companies be allowed to flood the complex with

hordes of foreign workers as had happened in Africa, said Gadelha,

the CFO.

"If it was up to them they would bring lots of Chinese workers as

they are used to doing," he admitted. "[But] Brazil's legislation is

very strict in this sense."

Batista suggested that rather than complaining about China's

courtship of Brazil, western powers should urge their own companies

to pay more attention to the region themselves.

"In the last 15 years or so the [American and European] CEOs have

stopped coming here and that is why they are a little bit behind," he

said. "We are pushing European companies and saying: 'You're not

really understanding what is happening in Brazil'."

"Don't put Brazil in the same bag as our neighbours," he added. "We

are not Central America. We are not Venezuela. We are not Argentina."

============================

Beijing's deals

Brazil In November 2009 Brazilian energy giant Petrobras signed a

$10bn loan deal with China's Development Bank. As part of the deal

Petrobras will guarantee the supply of 200,000 barrels of oil per day

to China over the next 10 years. Chinese companies and state banks

pumped around $20bn into Brazil in the first half of this year

Venezuela Hugo Chávez, pictured, unveiled a $20bn credit line from

China's Development Bank to fund the "Bolivarian revolution" in April

Ecuador The country has already signed around $5bn of bilateral deals

with China this year, including $1.7bn to help build a hydro-electric

dam and $1bn investments for oil exploration and infrastructure

projects. In 2009 direct Chinese investment in the country was just

$56m

Peru Chinese companies invested $1.4bn in mining operations in Peru

during the first four months of this year, making China the country's

second largest trade partner

VOICE OF BRITISH FINANCIAL ELITE: US ARE LOSING THE FREE WORLD

America is losing the free world

By Gideon Rachman

4 Jan, 2010, FT

Ever since 1945, the US has regarded itself as the leader of the “free world”. But the Obama administration is facing an unexpected and unwelcome development in global politics. Four of the biggest and most strategically important democracies in the developing world – Brazil, India, South Africa and Turkey – are increasingly at odds with American foreign policy. Rather than siding with the US on the big international issues, they are just as likely to line up with authoritarian powers such as China and Iran.

The US has been slow to pick up on this development, perhaps because it seems so surprising and unnatural. Most Americans assume that fellow democracies will share their values and opinions on international affairs. During the last presidential election campaign, John McCain, the Republican candidate, called for the formation of a global alliance of democracies to push back against authoritarian powers. Some of President Barack Obama’s senior advisers have also written enthusiastically about an international league of democracies.

But the assumption that the world’s democracies will naturally stick together is proving unfounded. The latest example came during the Copenhagen climate summit. On the last day of the talks, the Americans tried to fix up one-to-one meetings between Mr Obama and the leaders of South Africa, Brazil and India – but failed each time. The Indians even said that their prime minister, Manmohan Singh, had already left for the airport.

So Mr Obama must have felt something of a chump when he arrived for a last-minute meeting with Wen Jiabao, the Chinese prime minister, only to find him already deep in negotiations with the leaders of none other than Brazil, South Africa and India. Symbolically, the leaders had to squeeze up to make space for the American president around the table.

There was more than symbolism at work. In Copenhagen, Brazil, South Africa and India decided that their status as developing nations was more important than their status as democracies. Like the Chinese, they argued that it is fundamentally unjust to cap the greenhouse gas emissions of poor countries at a lower level than the emissions of the US or the European Union; all the more so since the industrialised west is responsible for the great bulk of the carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere.

Revealingly, both Brazilian and Chinese leaders have made the same pointed joke – likening the US to a rich man who, after gorging himself at a banquet, then invites the neighbours in for coffee and asks them to split the bill.

If climate change were an isolated example, it might be dismissed as an important but anomalous issue that is almost designed to split countries along rich-poor lines. But, in fact, if you look at Brazil, South Africa, India and Turkey – the four most important democracies in Latin America, Africa, Asia and the greater Middle East – it is clear that none of them can be counted as a reliable ally of the US, or of a broader “community of democracies”.

In the past year, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil has cut a lucrative oil deal with China, spoken warmly of Hugo Chávez, president of Venezuela, and congratulated Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad on his “victory” in the Iranian presidential election, while welcoming him on a state visit to Brazil.

During a two-year stint on the United Nations Security Council from 2006, the South Africans routinely joined China and Russia in blocking resolutions on human rights and protecting authoritarian regimes such as Zimbabwe, Uzbekistan and Iran.

Turkey, once regarded as a crucial American ally in the cold war and then trumpeted as the only example of a secular, pro-western, Muslim democracy, is also no longer a reliable partner for the west. Ever since the US-led invasion of Iraq, opinion polls there have shown very high levels of anti-Americanism. The mildly Islamist AKP government has engaged with America’s regional enemies – including Hamas, Hizbollah and Iran – and alarmed the Americans by taking an increasingly hostile attitude to Israel.

India’s leaders do seem to cherish the idea that they have a “special relationship” with the US. But even the Indians regularly line up against the Americans on a range of international issues, from climate change to the Doha round of trade negotiations and the pursuit of sanctions against Iran or Burma.

So what is going on? The answer is that Brazil, South Africa, Turkey and India are all countries whose identities as democracies are now being balanced – or even trumped – by their identities as developing nations that are not part of the white, rich, western world. All four countries have ruling parties that see themselves as champions of social justice at home and a more equitable global order overseas. Brazil’s Workers’ party, India’s Congress party, Turkey’s AKP and South Africa’s African National Congress have all adapted to globalisation – but they all retain traces of the old suspicions of global capitalism and of the US.

Mr Obama is seen as a huge improvement on George W. Bush – but he is still an American president. As emerging global powers and developing nations, Brazil, India, South Africa and Turkey may often feel they have more in common with a rising China than with the democratic US.

ON SINO-CUBA RELATIONS

Beijing and Havana: Political Fraternity and Economic Patronage

Jamestown China Brief Volume: 9 Issue: 9
By Yinghong Cheng

"History has proved that we [China and Cuba] are worthy of
the name of fast friends, good comrades and intimate
brothers,” commented Chinese President Hu Jintao on the
state of Sino-Cuban bilateral relations during a visit with
Cuban President Raul Castro in Havana on November 16-19,
2008 (China News Net, November 20, 2008). Hu's comments
echoed Chairman Mao's incendiary rhetoric during a time of
world revolution, and accentuated the notion that both
China and Cuba still claim to be “communist.” Yet, since
the late Patriarch Deng Xiaoping's economic policy of
opening-up China, Beijing has departed from its Maoist
socio-economic model and even further according to party
stalwarts still loyal to Mao's teachings. Following Hu’s
remarks, Raul chanted “The East Is Red,” a Chinese song
popular during Mao’s time comparing the Chairman to the
sun. Raul’s impromptu charade was widely reported in China
and deeply touched the cords of various old and new Maoists
and leftists.

Unlike North Korea or Vietnam, Cuba has neither entangled
China in a dangerous nuclear security complication nor
contested its territorial claims for oil-rich border zones,
respectively. In this context, Hu’s comments carry a lot of
weight and Raul’s singing is by no means a solo. After all,
Hu has been known for his reputation as the party’s “good
boy” since the 1950-1960s and there is no evidence to
suggest that he would allow Mao's legacy to be more
critically reexamined in public. While Hu visited Cuba
twice before (1997 and 2004), the timing of his third visit
was more auspicious, as the Chinese media emphasized: Raul
Castro has replaced Fidel as being on top of the Cuban
leadership (with an implication of more reform-oriented
policies following the “Chinese lesson”) at the same time
that China has issued “China's Policy Paper on Latin
America and the Caribbean.” The Chinese White Paper, which
was released two weeks before Hu’s visit, is the third such
Chinese policy paper, following a Chinese White Paper
released on the European Union in October 2003 and another
paper released by Beijing on Africa in January 2006. These
three White Papers articulate China’s dynamic and evolving
national interests in an increasingly globalized world.

Political Relations: A Duet on the International Stage

Sino-Cuban relations have been strategic in nature since
the two governments established an alliance in the early
1990s in an effort to defy international isolation against
the backdrop of the Soviet's collapse, China’s 1989
Tiananmen massacre, and the Soviet/Russian jettison of
Cuba. Debates on human rights issues, the “unilateralism”
of U.S. foreign policy and the “unfair international
economic order” were some of the issues that they
collaborated on. In a region where China and Taiwan have
fought for diplomatic recognition, Cuba has been a “staunch
supporter” of the PRC's interpretation of “One China” and
has used its influence to convince several smaller Central
American and Caribbean countries to switch their
recognition from Taiwan to China. In 2008 when China’s
moral qualification as the host of the Olympics was being
challenged, Cuba proved to be quite vocal in its support
for Chinese efforts to host the Beijing Olympic Games. The
ailing Fidel Castro even published an article entitled “The
Chinese Victory,” which was highlighted in the Cuban media
and hailed by the Chinese [1]. Cuba has also loudly
condemned Tibetan exiles and their Western supporters.
Another important aspect in the bilateral political
relationship that has evolved over time is Beijing’s
attempt to introduce Chinese style market-oriented reforms
and a private entrepreneurship-driven economy to the Cuban
leadership. These efforts were received sympathetically
among some Cuban leaders, particularly Raul Castro [2].
Indeed, the “Chinese model” has proven applicable to some
extent in Cuba’s limited economic reforms in small-scale
private businesses such as restaurants, taxis, and barber
shops and has provided some incentives to stimulate
production, attracting foreign investments. In addition,
Cuba has been hailed as the most undaunted anti-American
hero by the Chinese Maoists, old and new leftists and
nationalists. At the same time, China has served Castro’s
purpose for domestic consumption of the vitality of
“socialism” in the contemporary world [3].

Economic Patronage: China’s “Blood Transfusion” to Cuba

This high-pitch political duet has been accompanied by the
rapid development of economic relations and technology
transfers. Since the early 1990s China has risen to become
one of Cuba’s top foreign trade partners—second only to
Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela—particularly in energy-related
areas. According to Zhao Rongxian, the Chinese ambassador
in Havana in an interview before Hu’s recent visit, “made
in China” merchandise has “quietly changed the way of the
Cuban daily life,” presumably referring to a change from
outdated Russian/Eastern European technologies. For
example, Haier refrigerators have replaced previously
energy-inefficient ones; incandescent bulbs have given
their way to compact fluorescents; and more than 1000
Yutong buses have replaced truck-drawn carriages to become
the major public transportation tools, making the brand
“Yutong” synonymous with “bus” in Cuba (Xinhua News Agency,
November 17, 2008). According to a spokesperson of the
Chinese Foreign Ministry, in 2007, the bilateral trade
volume amounted to $2.28 billion, up 27 percent from the
previous year (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s
Republic of China, November 6, 2008).

Much of the burgeoning Sino-Cuban trade relationship has
been made possible by Chinese loans, which have resembled
an economic blood transfusion to Cuba’s meager foreign
currency reserve. China has granted Cuba numerous
long-term, low or interest-free loans. The largest of these
loans was a $400 million long-term interest-free loan that
was granted by former President Jiang Zemin during his
visit to Havana in 2001. During Hu’s 2004 visit, sixteen
documents were signed including a loan for the improvement
of Cuba’s education system, an agreement to defer the
repayments of four interest-free loans, a Chinese loan for
Sino-Cuban telecommunication cooperation and the Cuba’s
purchase of one million Chinese TVs [4]. This grandiose
display of Chinese generosity was perhaps what prompted
Fidel Castro—who was in crutches—to stand instead of
sitting in a wheelchair at a public welcoming rally for Hu,
while raising his arm and shouting “Long live China!”
(Xinhua News Agency, November 29, 2004). During Hu’s 2008
visit, he attended five document-signing ceremonies, in
which China gave Cuba a gift credit of $8 million, deferred
the repayment of an $8 million government debt by five
years, and offered a $70 million loan for upgrades to Cuban
hospital (Beijing Review, December 2, 2008). China has
become a major consumer of Cuban sugar, nickel (20,000 tons
between 2005 and 2009), tobacco, bio-technology products
and some medical instruments. China also signed a tourism
agreement in 2003 with Cuba, which was the first of such
agreements in Latin America and has contributed to a
portion of Cuba’s foreign currency revenue.

The Sino-Cuban political fraternity and economic patronage
have made bilateral relations a special case in China’s
strategy toward Latin America. For example, “China's Policy
Paper on Latin America and the Caribbean” stated that:

“The Chinese Government views its relations with Latin
America and the Caribbean from a strategic plane and seeks
to build and develop a comprehensive and cooperative
partnership featuring equality, mutual benefit and common
development with Latin American and Caribbean countries”
[5].

Yet, in Hu’s most recent visit to Cuba, he
suggested—directly to Raul Castro—that they should further
strengthen Sino-Cuban relations in four key areas, which to
some extent superseded the scope of the White Paper in
political implications as well as the extent of partnership
in other dimensions: “First, the two sides should continue
high-level exchanges and enhance political ties to cement
the political foundation for bilateral relations. Second,
China and Cuba should further develop trade and economic
cooperation. Third, the two countries should increase
exchanges in fields such as culture, education, health,
sports and tourism. Fourth, the two sides should work
together to protect the interests of developing countries
and build lasting peace and common prosperity in a
harmonious world” (Beijing Review [English], December 1,
2008).

Cuban Chinese under Castro

One particular aspect of the Sino-Cuban relationship that
may not seem immediately significant from a diplomatic
perspective but has long-term ideological and cultural
consequences for bilateral relations is the historical
experience and treatment of the Chinese Cubans. Ethnic
Chinese began to migrate to Cuba in the 1840s, initially as
indentured laborers to replace the black slaves who were
about to be emancipated. By the time Castro came to power,
the Chinese community in Cuba had become the largest one in
Latin America. With a vibrant economy, the Chinese
community had a population of more than 50,000 and Havana’s
Chinatown was one of the most bustling business districts
in the capital. Many Chinese Cubans participated in the
country’s 19th century nationalist revolution and Fidel
Castro’s July 26th movement. Yet, shortly after taking
power, the Chinese community became a major target in
Fidel’s socialist nationalization campaign. By 1968, when
Fidel launched the Revolutionary Offensive (a parallel to
the combination of Mao’s Great Leap Forward and the
Cultural Revolution), even street vendors—many of whom were
Chinese Cubans—were appropriated. The majority of Chinese
Cubans—particularly those in the upper and middle
classes—chose to leave the country while those who remained
suffered from political discrimination. In a matter of just
a decade, the once flourishing Chinese Cuban community
disappeared. By the 1990s, there were only about 1,000
first-generation Chinese Cubans and 20,000 second
generation ones; most of the former were very poor and
almost none of the latter spoke any Chinese [6].

After Cuba resumed its relations with China, marked by
Castro’s high-profile endorsement of Beijing’s crackdown on
the pro-democracy movement in 1989, the Cuban government
came to realize the potential of the Cuban Chinese
community in its relations with China. Castro made an
inspection tour of Havana’s Chinatown as early as 1989.
Later the government supported several projects to
revitalize Chinatown in the 1990s, especially in the second
half of the decade. These projects included allowing the
Chinese to run private restaurants, a preferential policy
not entitled to ordinary Cubans, and endorsed a Chinese
association by placing it under the guidance of a member of
a Cuban party Politburo and offered its staff government
salaries. Despite these efforts, the damages inflicted upon
the Chinese community still seem beyond repair, and
Havana’s Chinatown is nowhere near a complete restoration
of its old prosperity and dynamism. Many Chinese
visitors—often party and government officials—can not help
but lament the deplorable conditions of the Chinatown and
the near complete oblivion of the “Chinese-ness” among the
remaining Chinese Cubans.

This history in Sino-Cuban relations casts a shadow on the
Chinese popular perception of the Cuban Revolution and
Fidel Castro, and to some extent raises skepticism about
the official bravado for Sino-Cuban camaraderie, which had
been sapped by Chinese liberal discussion on world
communism at large and its criticism of Chinese aid to Cuba
in particular. In 2006, a book entitled Family Letters from
a Cuban Chinese was published describing the miserable life
experiences of the Cuban Chinese under Castro during the
1960s and 1970s [7]. The book was widely circulated and
provoked online discussions about Sino-Cuban relations, in
the context of the similar treatments of overseas Chinese
by communist Vietnam and Cambodia during the mid-1970s [8].

In 2005, Pathfinder, a leftwing and pro-Castro press source
in the United States, published Our History Is Still Being
Written—The Story of Three Chinese-Cuban Generals in the
Cuban Revolution. The book is a collection of the life
stories of three Chinese who joined Castro’s guerrilla war
and rose to senior positions to convince the reader of the
myth of “racial equality” brought about by the revolution.
The book’s Chinese version was published in 2009 and its
release became a public relations issue; the Chinese
People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries
held an official ceremony with the attendance of the Cuban
ambassador (The Chinese People’s Association for Friendship
with Foreign Countries, March 13). Discussion about the
different versions and political implications of “life
stories” of the Chinese Cubans are still ongoing. There are
about 30,000 Cuban Chinese who still live in Cuba and a
small portion of them have improved their economic standing
by taking advantage of the Cuban government’s favorable
policies toward small-scale private businesses, but the
majority are as poor as other ethnic groups. Currently,
other than appearing at ceremonials to welcome visiting
Chinese delegations, the Cuban Chinese community is not
playing any noticeable role in the relationship between the
two countries.

Sino-Cuban engagement in the 21st century is best described
as a political duet with a massive economic blood
transfusion. It will keep on this track in the foreseeable
future until improvement in Cuba’s international
circumstances enables the island to broaden its ranks of
foreign trade partners and aid providers. On the Chinese
side, Cuba’s strategic importance outweighs its economic
value. The CCP will continue to pay for Cuba’s support, but
while Chinese public opinion of Cuba and its government
policies have changed, it will not likely have any
immediate impact on official relations.


Notes

1. Castro’s article was published on April 1st by Granma,
the Cuban government mouthpiece and was appreciated by the
Chinese. For an English version of the article, see
www.escambray.cu/Eng/Special/Comradefidel/2008/Cchinatwo0804021005.htm.

2. For a recent discussion on the topic, see Yinghong
Cheng, “Fidel Castro and ‘China's Lesson for Cuba’: A
Chinese Perspective,” The China Quarterly, 189, March 2007,
pp, 24-42.

3. The most recent examples of Castro’s popularity in China
were the wide read article by Kong Hanbin, titled “Ka s te
luo zen yang zou shang fan mei zhi lu?” (How Did Castro
Choose Anti-American Position?”
news.xinhuanet.com/world/2008-03/30/content_7882192.htm),
originally published in Shi Jie Zhi Shi (World Knowledge,
March 2008) but has appeared on many websites; and the
release of Castro’s autobiography in Chinese (March 2008).

4. Jiang Shixue, “Sino-Cuban Relations Enter New Phase of
Comprehensive Development,” (Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences, November 2008), ilas.cass.cn/cn/xstl/content.asp.

5. Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China,
“China's Policy Paper on Latin America and the Caribbean,”
www.chinaconsulatesf.org/eng/xw/t521025.htm.

6. Zhou Li, “Gu ba hua she lu ying” (A Glimpse of the
Chinese Community in Cuba), Hai Wai Zhong Heng, 2004, No.
5. Zhou was a high-ranking officer in China’s international
cultural exchange administration and the article was
written to introduce the conditions of the Chinese Cubans
by 2004.

7. Huang Zhuocai, Gu ba hua qiao jia shu gu shi (Guangzhou:
Jinan University Press, 2006). The book is an annotated
collection of a Cuban Chinese sent from Cuba at the time.

8. For example, see Yinghong Cheng’s article “Hua yi gu bar
en: zai ge min de hong liu li” (“Cuban Chinese: In the
Midstream of the Revolution”), Southern Weekend March 17,
2008.

VENEZUELA AND CHINA UNITE AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MULTI-POLAR WORLD

China, Venezuela to step up co-op in bid to curb global financial crisis

www.chinaview.cn 2009-04-08

Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) meets with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, on April 8, 2009. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin) Photo Gallery>>>

BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- China and Venezuela agreed here Wednesday to step up cooperation in fields such as energy, agriculture, and high technology and take joint actions in the face of the global financial crisis.

The agreement was reached in a meeting between Chinese President Hu Jintao and his visiting Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the two exchanged in-depth views on bilateral relations and other issues of common concern and reached an important consensus.

Hu highlighted the robust growth of bilateral relations during the meeting, saying that China was satisfied with the positive outcomes from bilateral economic and technological cooperation, progress made on some key projects and close coordination on international and regional issues.

Hu also suggested the two nations should work closer and boost the various pragmatic cooperation, which would not only help resolve the impact from the international financial crisis, but also be conducive to laying a solid foundation for the long-term development of Sino-Venezuelan relations.

China highly values its ties with Venezuela and will join hands with the Venezuelan side to make efforts to push forward the bilateral strategic partnership to a higher level, Hu said.

Echoing Hu's views on bilateral relations, Chavez also applauded the progress made on bilateral cooperation in energy, agriculture, industry and technology.

He especially mentioned the successful launch and delivery of Venezuela's first telecommunication satellite thanks to cooperation with China.

Chavez noted that the world order is undergoing a profound change and China already played a significant and positive role in an effort to address the challenges posed by the international economic turmoil.

Venezuela is willing to cement its cooperation with China in such a new international context, the Venezuelan president added.

As Hu's guest, Chavez arrived in Beijing on Tuesday night for a three-day working visit.

He will also meet Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping during the visit, which is his sixth to China.

'CHINA: MOST PROMISING HOPE FOR THE THIRD WORLD'

China keeps proving socialism’s worth

GRANMA
Havana, Monday November 17 2008. Year 12 / Number 320
Oscar Sánchez Serra

A CubaNews translation.
Edited by Walter Lippmann.

On November 23, 2004, Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro said:
“In the face of all the mortal dangers of times past and
the even worse ones we face today, socialism will
definitely remain humanity’s only real hope of peace and
survival. That’s precisely what the Communist Party and the
people of China have proved beyond question. They have also
shown, as have Cuba and other friendly countries, that
every people must fit their revolutionary strategies and
goals to their own specific conditions, and that no two
revolutionary socialist processes are identical. We can
learn from each country’s best experiences and worst
mistakes.

Recently, while we enjoyed the privilege of traveling for
17 days across more than 6,000 kilometers of the great
Asian nation (the world’s third largest one), where we
witnessed its impressive scientific and technological
development and were dazzled by the magnificence of cities
like Beijing, Shanghai or Suzhou, not without realizing
that they also have social problems, those words spoken by
the leader of the Cuban Revolution seemed to reverberate in
our ears.

Those who have never visited that huge country and do it
now in 2008 might as well think they have arrived in
another galaxy or been abruptly pushed into the setting of
a science-fiction movie, all with its futuristic
architecture, its highly computerized society, its
extraordinary road infrastructure, its modern means of
transport, and its vast and functional airports –Beijing’s
is considered to be the world’s largest one– its amazing
industrial and construction activity, and a remarkable boom
in trade, to name just a few of China’s realizations that
the whole world, almost in wonder, can appreciate nowadays.

At the same time, you can feel all around you the respect
paid by the People’s Republic to a time-honored culture
rich in traditions that defies the brisk pace of
development to give us a nation where modern and ancient
features merge into a fascinating, mind-blowing ambiance.

China knows what it has, but also what it lacks

2008 marks the 30th year of a process of reforms for
China’s development spearheaded by Deng Xiaoping. Based on
the premise that progress is reason, it set in motion a
gigantic wave of investments which soon bore rich rewards.
Not that the negative effects of such a hasty spiral took
too long to appear either: there still exist unequal income
levels, noticeable differences between urban and rural
areas and a damaged environment, the yardstick some use to
find fault with China instead of its achievements.

But watch out! Regardless of the gloomy picture the West
intends to give us, China’s success and reforms by no means
point to an abdication of socialism, much less a move
towards capitalism, another media-fed idea intended to
present the country’s colossal advance in only 30 years as
an excuse to vilify the socialist model.

In October 2007, the XVII Congress of the Communist Party
embraced a scientific approach to development based on the
assurance that the human being is paramount and the
integral, coordinated and sustainable development of the
nation, qualities at once intrinsic to socialism and
contrary to capitalism. History has proved them right:
owing to the latter’s long-standing ills, children are
dying of curable diseases and there’s illiteracy,
malnutrition and poverty in more than 100 nations
worldwide.

Underlying the above concept is a long list of goals,
including a harmonized development between cities and the
countryside as well as between regions, economy and
society, and individuals and nature. In other words, it
means acting on the main problems currently facing China,
which shows consistency between what the authorities preach
and what they do, but also makes it plain that they know
what they have and don’t have.

Development is proportional to the Chinese Communist
Party's leadership

Those were precisely the topics discussed in the III
Meeting of the Party’s Central Committee, which held its
final session last October 12, the day of our arrival. For
instance, it launched a strategy for rural development
until 2020 to improve the peasants’ living and working
conditions and double their per capita income by the end of
next decade. In 2007 they earned around 605 dollars, a
figure to be raised in more than 6% before the end of the
year.

In a meeting with Political Bureau member Liu Yunshan, who
is also Head of its Information and Propaganda Division, we
learned of other projects that come high on the
government’s list of priorities, such as plans to meet the
Chinese people’s increasing demands by focusing on a more
just distribution of wealth and better measures to protect
the environment. As Liu himself said, “We have
environmental problems, and a country aiming for high
levels of development must do it in a sustainable manner".

He insisted that only by persevering with today’s
Chinese-style socialism –which welcomes foreign investment
and fosters state and private ownership, known as "one
country, two systems", in line with the present situation
of this large nation of almost 1.4 billion inhabitants and
56 ethnic groups– and the rules of scientific development
followed for the last 30 years of reform will the People’s
Republic be able to deal successfully with its current
problems.

Powerful though they are, the West’s media machinery and
the top exponents of that select world can disregard
China’s advancement no more than they can deny that its GDP
has steadily remained a two-figure number since 2002
–estimates for this year place it between 10.1 and 10.4– or
downplay the fact that it’s the world’s second exporting
country, with reserves adding up to two billion dollars.
But they fail to mention both the institutional work
carried out by the Chinese people and their government and
the role of the Communist Party as the driving force of
this process.

No matter how much they twist reality, they can’t make it
go away. Suffice it to walk the streets of the big cities
or countryside villages, even in the most backward regions
of central or western China, to notice the Party’s force
and how it has managed to stick to its history and
principles and highlight the consistency of the scientific
theories it practices with Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong’s
ideas, Deng Xiaoping’s postulates, and the triple
representativeness, that is, the Party must always stand
for what is needed to develop the most advanced productive
forces, the direction national culture must take, and the
interests of the great mass of the population.

As compañero Fidel stated on November 23, 2004 when the
Council of State of the Republic of Cuba bestowed upon
president Hu Jintao the José Martí Order –our Homeland’s
highest award: “China has objectively become the most
promising hope for and the best example to all Third World
countries”.


Original

"ALL COUNTRIES RICH OR POOR, SMALL OR BIG SHOULD B EQUAL"

Hu Jintao addresses Peruvian Congress, vows to establish comprehensive cooperative partnership with Latin America

LIMA, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- China is willing to make concerted efforts with Latin American countries to establish a comprehensive cooperative partnership of equality, mutual benefit and common development, Chinese President Hu Jintao said here Thursday.

China, as the largest developing country in the world, is willing to work with Latin America, an important developing region, to boost mutual cooperation to a higher level, which conforms to the trends of the times and their respective development needs, President Hu said in his address to the Peruvian Congress.

Hu put forward five proposals to boost Sino-Latin American ties.

Firstly, China and Latin American countries should maintain high-level exchanges and contacts, improve bilateral and multilateral political consultation and dialogue systems at various levels, while continuously enhancing mutual political trust.

Secondly, to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in economy and trade, China and Latin America should optimize trade structure and increase mutual investment, especially in the fields of manufacturing, infrastructure construction, energy, minerals, agriculture and high technology, said Hu.

China is willing to continue providing assistance for the economic and social development of Latin American and Caribbean countries within its ability, Hu said.

Thirdly, China and Latin American countries should enhance communication and coordination on their stances on such global issues as climate change, food security, energy and finance, multilateral trade system and the UN Millennium Development Goals.

Under the current complex international financial and economic situation, China and Latin America should join hands and participate in the framing of international economic, financial and trade rules, so as to help the international economy develop in a fairer and more reasonable direction, the Chinese president said.

Fourthly, Hu said China and Latin America should learn from each other and make progress in the fields of social welfare and development.

Both sides should carry out pragmatic cooperation in poverty reduction, education, social security, medical and health care, environmental protection and disaster relief, he said.

Finally, both sides should take effective measures to deepen and boost cooperation in culture, sports, media and tourism, said Hu.

The Chinese leader arrived in Lima on Wednesday for a state visit to Peru and the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting scheduled for Nov. 22-23.

During his speech, Hu said that to forge the comprehensive cooperative partnership, both sides should first grasp the theme of common development because development is a basic way to improve people's well-being and promote social development.

He added that both China and Latin America are at a crucial time of development and China is willing to expand pragmatic cooperation with Latin American countries in various fields to boost common development.

The president said that to forge the comprehensive cooperative partnership, both sides also need to pursue the basic principle of equality and mutual benefit.

According to Hu, China will unswervingly follow the path of peaceful development and uphold the opening up strategy of mutual benefit and win-win progress. It maintains that all countries, big or small, rich or poor, strong or weak, should be equal and regards safeguarding and developing the common interests of China and Latin American countries as the starting point and the purpose of bilateral cooperation.

China respects the rights of people in Latin American countries to independently choose their paths of development, treats Latin American countries equally and takes into account their concerns in cooperation in a bid to realize mutual benefit and win-win results.

Hu stressed that innovation and all-round cooperation are also required to build China-Latin America comprehensive cooperative partnership.

He added that China is willing to work with Latin American countries to innovate their cooperation mode, expand their cooperation field, and enrich cooperation content in order to achieve more tangible results and better benefit their peoples.

Hu said that he has agreed with his Peruvian counterpart Alan Garcia to build a strategic partnership between the two countries.

"We have agreed to build a China-Peru strategic partnership and strive to deepen and enrich the mutually-beneficial cooperation between the two countries in all fields," Hu said.

Peru, which is one of the fastest growing economies amongst Latin American nations, is playing an increasingly important role in the world and regional affairs, he said.

Recalling the long history of friendship between the Chinese and Peruvian peoples, Hu said their mutual political trust is ever expanding and cooperation and exchanges in various fields is developing rapidly in an all-around way.

China and Peru have each other's support and have worked closely in dealing with international affairs, Hu said. China has become Peru's second largest trading partner and Peru is one of the major destinations for Chinese investment in Latin America.

Hu had talks with Garcia on Wednesday afternoon on efforts to expand mutually beneficial cooperation and further develop bilateral relations.

"We've come to the agreement that China and Peru, both developing nations, share wide common interests and the same target for development. Strengthening their links is not only in keeping with the fundamental interests of the two countries and their peoples, but also conducive to exchanges and cooperation between the Asian and Latin American regions," Hu said.

"China has always attached strategic importance to promoting cooperation with Latin America," Hu said.

"I made it clear that China hopes to become a trustworthy and all-weather friend, a mutually beneficial cooperative partner of Latin America and make the two a role model for active dialogues between different civilizations when I visited the region in 2004," the president said.

Hu thanked Latin American countries for their aid during the devastating earthquake in southwest China in May and their support for China on Taiwan, Tibet and other issues.

Hailing the rapid expansion of trade between China and the region, Hu noted that their trade reached the threshold of 100 billion U.S. dollars last year, an over ten-fold increase compared to 10 years ago.

In addition, their cultural exchanges continue to grow with an increasing number of events featuring each other's cultures and more tourist arrivals and exchange students, Hu said.

Confucius Institutes have been set up in more and more Latin American nations and many renowned media in the region have set up their branches in Beijing, he said.

The mutual understanding and friendship between the Chinese and Latin American peoples is ever deepening, while the foundations of their ties have further consolidated and China and Latin America are facing more opportunities for the future development of their relations, Hu said.

'DEEP ROOTED FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN CUBA AND CHINA'

HAVANA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao on Tuesday visited Fidel Castro, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, in Havana.

The two leaders warmly shook hands, exchanged greetings and had a long conversation in a sincere and friendly atmosphere.

Hu said he was delighted to see Castro again. The comrades of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China "have all cared about your health and I brought their sincere greetings to you," he said.

"I see in person that you have recovered and have been energetic so I feel very pleased," he told Castro.

Castro extended a warm welcome to Hu for his second state visit to Cuba. "We are old friends. I am happy to see that you are as energetic as when I met you last time," he said.

Hu said that as the founder of the Cuban socialist revolution and construction, Castro is dearly adored by the Cuban people. During the past half century, Castro led the heroic Cuban people in their fearless struggle to safeguard state sovereignty and adhere to the path of socialism, thus winning respect from people worldwide, including the Chinese people.

Hu said that Castro has followed closely his country's development, showed great concern about people's life and dedicated himself to profound reflections of major strategic issues, such as international affairs and national development.

"Your thoughts and experience will surely guide the Cuban people to continue their march on the road of socialist construction," he said.

On Sino-Cuban relations, Hu said relations between the two countries have withstood the changes of international situation thanks to the joint efforts to forge and nurture their bilateral ties by generations of Chinese leaders, including Mao Zedong, DengXiaoping and Jiang Zemin, and Castro and other Cuban leaders.

"The brotherly friendship between our two countries and two parties has been deeply rooted in the hearts of our two peoples," he said.

"The Chinese people will never forget that thanks to your concern and effort that Cuba became the first Latin American nation to forge diplomatic ties with China 48 years ago," he said.

Thanks to the concerted efforts of both sides, the Sino-Cuban mutually beneficial and friendly cooperation in all areas have been expanding continuously, and bilateral ties have entered a new era of all-round development, said Hu.

"Our two nations, parties and peoples have become reliable friends and brothers who share weal and woe," he said.

"What affected me and other Chinese leaders most is that you always pay close attention to China's development and remain committed to promoting friendly cooperation between our two countries," Hu added.

Hu noted that Castro ordered to send a medical team to China immediately after the devastating earthquake in Wenchuan, southwest China's Sichuan province on May 12.

The Cuban leader also made constant phone calls to offer instructions on the team's work in China, Hu added.

Moreover, in his article entitled China's Victory, Castro has showed his firm support for China on such major issues as Taiwan, Tibet and the Olympic Games in Beijing, the Chinese president said.

The Cuban leader has also showed great concern about the Chinese students studying in Cuba and the progress of a joint ophthalmic hospital. "The Chinese people, the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government will for ever remember all these," he said.

Castro expressed appreciation of China's relief and reconstruction efforts following the Wenchuan earthquake and other natural disasters. He once again congratulated China on its successful hosting of the Beijing Olympic Games and Paralympics as well as the success of the Shenzhou-7 manned space mission.

Hu said that the Chinese government will always adhere to the principle of long-term friendship between China and Cuba. The Chinese people will, as always, support the just struggle of the Cuban people in safeguarding state sovereignty and opposing outside interference.

China will continue to provide assistance for Cuba within its capacity, and will firmly support the country's socialist cause, he said.

"We will work with the Cuban people to continuously push forward the development of friendship between China and Cuba," he added.

Castro said he and other Cuban comrades have followed closely "everything that happened in China."

"China has a large population and a culture of long standing and the Chinese people are known for their diligence," he said, adding that the Chinese people "have surmounted all manner of unimaginable difficulties and accomplished great achievements in construction."

"As the current international financial crisis is spreading, the Chinese economy has kept a sound momentum for development, demonstrating that China is the most prepared country," he said.

China is the most dynamic nation in the world and "no force can stop it from forging ahead," he said.

The two leaders also exchanged views on the two countries' economic development and major international and regional issues, including the international financial crisis and the world economy.

Before the conclusion of the meeting, Hu again expressed his heartfelt wish for Castro's good health. Castro, in return, expressed his gratitude.

Cuba is the third leg of Hu's five-nation trip. He has attended a Group of 20 summit on the financial crisis in Washington and visited Costa Rica.

He will also visit Peru and Greece, and attend the Economic Leaders' Informal Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in the Peruvian capital of Lima.

CHAVEZ: “Thank God there is a revolution in China; thank God there is a revolution in Venezuela; thank God we met each other and we shook our hands"

The Strategic Fund China-Venezuela
to be injected with 12 billion dollars
in three years

ABN 24/09/2008 Caracas,

Caracas, Sept 24. ABN.- The President of the Bolivarian
Republic of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez Frías, informed that in
three years 12 billion dollars will be injected to the
Strategic Fund China-Venezuela.

During his fifth visit to China, Chávez explained that he
sent the request to China three months ago and he will take
advantage of his visit to renew the fund.

President Chávez detailed that in a first stage, China
contributed with 4 billion dollars and Venezuela with 2
billion. “These resources are being invested in the country
(Venezuela) in hundreds of small and medium works that are
currently under construction.”

“Chinese Government, with a prove of friendship and
confidence to Venezuela, has answered positively,” he said.

Venezuelan Head of State commented that China and Venezuela
are able to resist the consequences of the current crisis
of the capitalism because both countries had and have
revolutions; and, thanks to that, it is also possible the
close bilateral relation that has been developed since
almost a decade ago.

He reminded that the relation went stronger when both
countries decided to establish a strategic alliance and
demonstrate that Venezuela and China could create strong
links despite geographical distance and the excuses of some
people saying it was impossible to send oil to that
country.

“They kept us tied to the empire. We were a colony. The
Government was not in Caracas, but in Washington,” Chávez
said explaining the dependence Venezuela had to the North
American market.

“Now, we are free to travel to Beijing. We are working to
increase the oil processing to China,” he stressed.

“Soon, we will reach 400,000 barrels a day (sent from
Venezuela to China), then 500,000 barrels next year, and we
are going to keep working until we reach 1 million barrels
a day,” he said.

Chávez explained that to face worldwide energy crisis,
Venezuela and China are increasing their trade and
relations in oil sector with agreements to build refineries
and tank ships, as well as increasing oil supply to China.

In reference to the financial crisis, President Chávez
insisted that, nowadays, when there are banks going to
bankruptcy and it is so hard to get a credit, both
countries decided to double their joint fund of 6 billion
dollars in order to support the development in sectors like
energy, housing, sanitation, aqueducts, agriculture, among
others.

Regarding food crisis, Chávez pointed out that both
countries keep a close cooperation in agriculture and food
industry since two years ago.

“All of them (the agreements) allow us to overcome the
(worldwide) crisis,” said Chávez with respect to the
bilateral cooperation, while the world is passing through
hard moments.

“Thanks God there is a revolution in China; thanks God
there is a revolution in Venezuela; thanks God we met each
other and we shook our hands,” he insisted.

Translated by Ernesto Aguilera