The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has been dynamically expanding its presence in the world in recent decades, and many countries in different regions are subject to political, economic and cultural interference from the regime of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
This is evidenced by the Doublethink Lab China Index and China In The World Network, the first regional project to objectively measure and visualize the influence of the People’s Republic of China abroad through comparable data and information.
The Indicators consist of the first and only research effort to collect information on the impact of the People’s Republic of China on a single set of observable phenomena, between 2021 and 2022.
The index ranks China’s influence on 82 countries and territories in nine areas: academia, domestic politics, economics, foreign policy, law enforcement, media, military, society, and technology.
Pakistan, Cambodia, Singapore, Thailand and South Africa were ranked as the countries most exposed to Chinese influence, according to the index published in December 2022, based on data collected from March 2021 to March 2022.
While Paraguay, North Macedonia and Albania are classified as the least affected. Globally, China’s influence is estimated to be most prominent in the fields of technology, foreign policy, and domestic politics, and weakest in the military and society.
influence in the region
Despite the fact that China maintains economic interests with Latin America, the investigation concluded that between 2020 and 2021, economic weakness due to the COVID-19 pandemic caused the Chinese approach to be firstly political, and secondly, technical.
“China has lured politicians in Latin America with economic promises and some big investments, but its current focus is mainly political,” China Index head Puma Shen said in an interview with digital media Expediente Público.
He noted that “Beijing is exploiting political corruption in Latin America” and “you just have to reach certain politicians and make sure you have contacts, and that costs less money.” In addition, it is believed that in Central America the United States has more influence than the rest of Latin America. In the work, three of the four Central American countries that maintain relations with China were investigated: Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
Panama, for example, appears 23rd in the table of the 82 analyzed countries with the most Chinese involvement. While Costa Rica ranked 39th and Nicaragua 76th.
Panama is also the second Latin American country with the largest Chinese involvement, after Peru. The areas most affected by Chinese power in the canal country are: domestic politics, technology and society. in Costa Rica in the local academic, technological and political fields; and in Nicaragua in the areas of technology, foreign policy, domestic policy, and society.
According to Shen, when making the index rankings, they found that countries that are members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and are close to the United States or the United Kingdom, have “greater flexibility” in Chinese influence operations.
China has strengthened its level of interference in the countries of the Central American region during the past fifteen years, through various methods of deterrence and political loyalty to various countries.
A little over a decade ago, China was virtually unknown in Central America, until a group of countries decided to sever diplomatic relations with Taiwan and set it up with the Asian giant.
Over the past decades, most Latin American and Caribbean countries have severed ties with Taiwan and recognized China as “one China”. Honduras, Guatemala, and Belize are Taiwan’s last allies in Central America.
Costa Rica and Panama were also part of this group, but they severed diplomatic relations with Taipei; The first in 2007 and the second in 2017. El Salvador did the same (2018) and finally Nicaragua (2021).
The growth of business, official collaboration, training (for journalists, organizations and others), cultural projects and academic exchanges observed in the countries studied in recent years reflects the greater presence of the Asian giant.
The index currently monitors the influence of the Asian country in 83 countries. Next issue will be 100. Country profiles, areas and indicators will be updated regularly to help understand the evolving nature and impacts of the PRC’s global impact. The last updated data is from November 15, 2022.
trade
China, the United States and Europe are some of Panama’s major trading partners. According to data from the Secretariat for the Economic Integration of Central America (Sieca), China’s trade with Panama is about $1,072.96 million; with the United States at $130.58 million; And the European Union, 793 million dollars.
While the Asian giant’s trade with Costa Rica amounted to $308.22 million; With US$6,036.93 million and with EU$2,845.00 million; Meanwhile, China’s trade with Nicaragua exceeded $12.02 million, $1,754.41 million and with the European Union $296.70 million.
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