China and the G7: B3W vs BRI

Panda Paw Dragon Claw published on 29 June 2021 a roundtable discussion titled "Will the G7's B3W Initiative Change the Game of Global Infrastructure Development?" 

It consists of four commentaries, including mine, that look at the G-7's Build Back Better World (B3W) Initiative and China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) from different perspectives.  

The Diplomat published on 22 June 2021 a commentary titled "B3W: Building an Alternative to the BRI or Falling Into the Same Trap?" by Francesca Ghiretti, King's College London.

The author argues that the BRI has not measured up to its high expectations and suggests this is a lesson the G-7 would do well to learn.

China's Security Engagement in Latin America Looking More Like Its Engagement in Africa

 The Center for Strategic and International Studies published in November 2020 a paper titled "Chinese Security Engagement in Latin America" by R. Evan Ellis, U.S. Army War College.

I am struck by how the themes in this paper mirror the earlier development of China's security engagement with African countries: arms sales, high level military visits, military training in China, military exercises, PLAN port calls, use of private security companies, and police cooperation.  

China-Latin America Engagement Follows China-Africa Model

Global Americans posted on 2 February 2018 an analysis titled "It's Time To Think Strategically about Countering Chinese Advances in Latin America" by Evan Ellis, U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute.

This analysis sets forth a pattern of Chinese engagement in Latin America and the Caribbean that is remarkably similar to China's pattern in Africa. The difference is that China took an earlier interest in Africa and pursued the continent more intensely than was the case in Latin America and the Caribbean. China-Latin America/Caribbean trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) now exceed China-Africa trade and FDI. According to IMF Direction of Trade Statistics for China in 2016, its trade with Latin America/Caribbean totaled $216 billion. In the case of Africa, it was only $151 billion in 2016. Ellis reports that Chinese companies have invested about $114 billion in Latin America and the Caribbean. The FDI figures for Africa vary, but they fall below Ellis' number for Latin America and the Caribbean. The most recent official Chinese figure for Africa is $34 billion. The US-based China Global Investment Tracker puts the total closer to $83 billion.

The fact that Latin America and the Caribbean are further along the development path than Africa probably accounts for China's higher trade and FDI engagement with Latin America and the Caribbean. But as Ellis notes, China is also stepping up its diplomacy and security interaction in the Western Hemisphere.