#68 China Playing in America's Backyard

China has managed to use its increasing economic muscle - and thereby global clout - to persuade yet another country to recognize it over Taiwan. Costa Rican President Oscar Arias announced on June 6 that his country has broken diplomatic ties with Taiwan and established relations with China, pointing out that Costa Rica needed to strengthen ties with China in order to attract foreign investment. This follows a string of successes for China, who refuse to have diplomatic ties with nations that recognize Taiwan, regarding it as a breakaway republic. During the late 1960s, Taiwan had full relations with 67 countries, but Chinese pressure has led to this figure dropping almost threefold to just 24 states today.

China's success does not really come as a huge surprise, given the fact that China is now the Central American nation's top trading partner, buying more than $1 billion worth of Costa Rican exports in 2006. The fear is that after Costa Rica's decision, other nations such as Nicaragua, Panama and Paraguay will follow suit, leaving Taiwan practically abandoned in Latin America. After the Dominican Republic, Haiti, St. Kitts and Nevis and St. Vincent and the Grenadines switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 2004 and Costa Rica did the same on Wednesday, today only Paraguay, Panama, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala officially recognize Taiwan.

In the last couple of years, China has been particularly active in Latin America, not only to shore up its political influence, but also to secure natural resources that are crucial to sustain the country's red hot economy. Venezuela is particularly keen to court the Chinese with oil, seeing the country as the perfect escape from the grip of the "evil American empire." Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, Peru and even Mexico are also seeing large increases in trade and deals (particularly in oil and gas exploration) with China. According to the Inter-American Dialogue, Chinese imports from Latin America have grown more than sixfold, at a pace of some 60% per year, to an estimated $50 billion in 2005. What's more, Chinese investment in Latin America represents half of the country's foreign investment overseas, promising to increase it from $6.5 billion in 2004 to $100 billion by 2014.

US trade with Latin America is still almost 10 times larger, but given the growth of Chinese trade with the region and the severe hostility the Americans encounter in a number of Latin American countries, this is certainly an issue that the need to monitor closely. China is rapidly encroaching upon America's backyard. China's dealings in the region are not limited to securing energy needs, other natural resources and isolating Taiwan. The business of selling of arms and technology to the region (with Venezuela being a key buyer) is also flourishing, while cooperative aerospace deals are being forged with Brazil and possibly key intelligence-gathering facilities in Cuba are being used by the Chinese to intercept U.S. communications.

#67 The Higher Standard

With a slip and a fall the American representative of the 2007 Miss Universe Pageant, taking place in Mexico City, unknowingly revealed the true colors of her Mexican audience. Fighting boos and cat calls during the question and answer session, Rachel Smith absorbed the full torrent of abuse hurled at her. Her appearance further conveyed the malice held by the majority of Mexicans toward the United States. While 12 million of their compatriots were getting a free pass to American citizenship, the underlying animosities of their misguided political beliefs were exposed.

Imagine for the briefest moment that the pageant had been held in the United States and the victim of those four inch heels was a young Mexican woman. Would the International community, never mind the Mexicans, stand for an American audience that jeered the contestant? The mechanisms of “political correctness” would come out in full swing and this would be yet another example of an America the world can hate. Are the same standards held for the Mexicans? Is the International Community insisting on an apology? Nope.

Flashback to the 2004/2005 World Cup qualifiers; Mexican nationals booed the American team and some even chanted “Osama.” Was there an International outcry? Most certainly there was not. When millions of illegal Mexicans took to the streets in defiance of American law, demanding recognition, did the International community come to the defense of America? Quite the contrary; they sided with the Mexicans. You would be hard-pressed to find another country in the world that faces an International Community that argues for the rights of those who are knowingly breaking the law everyday they spend on American soil.

To briefly compare the mass hypocrisy facing America today, one only has to look as far as the Mexicans themselves. Specifically the Mexican laws concerning non-Mexican immigrants seeking residence in Mexico. To begin with, you must speak the native language and you must be a professional worker. Sorry, no unskilled workers allowed. There are no bilingual government programs and as a foreigner you will not have the right to vote or hold office. You are not eligible to receive any government sponsored welfare and if you want to take to the streets and protest unfair treatment, that too is illegal. You are not allowed to wave the flag of a foreign nation, form a political party, or criticize the government. And I almost forgot, if you come to Mexico illegally you will be arrested and jailed.

The true question concerning Mexican-American relations is why there is so much anti-Americanism in Mexico? Are Mexicans upset at their inability to sustain their economy without the massive remittances provided by their compatriots working in the United States? Or is it a deeper national character flaw that prohibits them from accepting that their neighbor to the North has simply managed to be more successful in most every sense of the word? The livelihood of the Mexican economy depends heavily on the engine of the American economy and the rampant anti-Americanism contaminating the Mexican political and social environment can only lead to a negative outcome.

Does America abide by a higher standard? Well, if current polls are any indication of the anti-Americanism sweeping Mexico, then America is indeed abiding by a higher standard. The majority of Mexicans have an unfavorable view of both Americans and the United States government. Furthermore, a recent Zogby poll showed that 75% of Mexicans think Americans are racist and only 17% think that Americans are tolerant. Yet aside from merely talking about building a wall, the United States has done nothing to warrant this animosity. Thousands of illegal immigrants continue to flood the border and the United States continues to accommodate them. The gap between Mexico and the United States continues to expand and the increase in the hatred felt by the Mexicans will almost inevitably rise as well.

- This article was written for and provided to the Weekend Economist by Westbrook Sullivan