In an early October report, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, highlighted the growing concerns over China’s space footprint in South America. Its expanding ground stations in the region could be intercepting sensitive information, the report Eyes on the Skies indicated. “China [ … ]
China
China Depletes World Oceans with Illegal Fishing Operations
Over the last two decades, China has built the world’s largest deep-water fishing fleet by far, with nearly 3,000 ships. Having severely depleted stocks in its own coastal waters, China now fishes in any ocean in the world, and on a scale that dwarfs some countries’ entire fleets near their [ … ]
China’s Hunger for Fish Increases in Latin America
China’s fishing activities from January to May 31, 2022, near the exclusive economic zones of Ecuador, Peru, and Argentina, were four times greater than those of all other countries combined that fish in the same areas, an investigative report from The New York Times indicated. In contrast, in all of [ … ]
China Expands Its Global Media Footprint
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its proxies “are using more sophisticated and coercive tactics to shape media narratives and suppress critical reporting,” including intimidation of journalists, the September report Beijing’s Global Media Influence 2022, by U.S.-based nonprofit organization Freedom House, which conducts research and advocacy on human rights and [ … ]
China Ensures Its Food Security at the Expense of Other Countries
Chinese state-owned and private companies have been looking at the overseas food supply chain to ensure the country’s food security. “The way China sources its food is of global concern,” Japanese publication Nikkei Asia said in a report. “China’s food security policy has to do with [...] voracious purchases of [ … ]
Chinese Highway in Bolivia to Cause Environmental Damage, Experts Say
Construction company China Railway Group Limited (CREC) will be in charge of developing, designing, and building the Potosí-Cochabamba highway in Bolivia. The project, however, could wipe out the ecological wealth of the Potosí department, independent investigative journalism platform Diálogo Chino reported. “In the last decade, Chinese investments in mining and [ … ]
China and Russia Step Up Cyber Presence in Latin America
China and Russia have stepped up their cyber presence in Latin America, while employing cyber tools, including disinformation, cybercrime, and electoral interference to pursue their goals in the region, experts said. Disinformation campaigns through state-owned Spanish-language social media platforms, cyberattacks, such as those the Russian Conti ransomware group perpetrated against [ … ]
Controversial Chinese Company to Build Demerara Bridge in Guyana
The controversial Chinese company China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC), which was sanctioned by the World Bank in 2019 for fraud and corruption, will build the new bridge over the Demerara River in Guyana, Guyanese newspaper Stabroek News reported. The Guyanese government and the Chinese company signed the $260 million [ … ]
Chinese Lithium Giant Expands Operations in Argentina
China’s largest lithium compounds producer, Ganfeng Lithium Co., will acquire Lithea Inc. for $962 million to secure more resources for the production of metals to produce batteries, Reuters reported. Privately owned Lithea Inc. owns rights to lithium salt lakes in Argentina’s mineral rich Salta province. “There is more and more [ … ]
China: A Threat to the Environment and Human Rights in Latin America
The Collective on Chinese Financing and Investments, Human Rights and Environment (CICDHA), a nongovernmental organization (NGO) that promotes social, environmental, political, and cultural rights in Latin America, examined some of China’s largest backed projects in Latin America and presented some conclusions on their environmental and human rights impact. “Things aren’t [ … ]
Costa Rica: Chinese Company’s Road Project Threatens Residents and Ecosystem
China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), a subsidiary of China Communication Construction Group (CCCC), which has been involved in fraudulent practices in several countries, is carrying out design, rehabilitation, and expansion work on 107 kilometers of National Route 32 (Río Frío-Limón) in Costa Rica, creating challenges that threaten the country’s social, [ … ]
China and Russia: The Worst Image Among Latin Americans
A survey entitled What do you think in Latin America about the European Union? revealed that China and Russia lead the negative image ranking among participants in the poll, which was carried out by the Latinobarómetro pollster, at the request of the German Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Foundation, and Nueva Sociedad/Grupo Diálogo [ … ]