Uruguayan Foreign Minister Mario Lubetkin said his country aims to strengthen trade and cultural cooperation with China with an eye on future development as other nations across Latin America show growing enthusiasm for their respective deepening ties with China.
Lubetkin, who was in Beijing for Tuesday's fourth ministerial meeting of the China-CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Forum, shared his insights on the future prospects of China-Latin America cooperation under the forum mechanism.
"It's true that we are developing from the last 10 years this type of meeting. It's a very important thing to try to think together which type of prospective we need to develop, because for us, cooperation is a [clear] issue that we need to develop," he said in an interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN).
While China has consistently stated that its cooperation with Latin American countries comes with no political conditions, some international analysts have criticized this engagement, accusing China of placing so-called "debt traps" or even "neocolonialism".
Lubetkin dismissed these accusations and emphasized that Latin American countries freely choose to engage with China based on their own interests and long-term development goals.
"In general, I don't respond to something that there are no reasons behind. All of our region is developing [with the] independence and the sovereignty of our countries, and we are free to decide how and which way we can work with this or that. This is the policy of the countries of the region. And we decide to come to Beijing, not because of what are pushing us, it's because we want to think in the future. [We] hope that we can develop with others the same that we are developing here. I think that this new scenario in the world will give for all of us new opportunities and this is the way in which we need to work," he said.
Uruguay has historically maintained strong ties with both China and its Western partners, and while discussing how the country navigates its foreign policy to deepen relations with China amid the current geopolitical complexities, Lubetkin stressed the importance of fostering win-win relationships which are grounded in mutual understanding.
"We want not to use the model between China and Uruguay or China-Latin America to develop with other regions, perhaps it will be different, but the core is the same. We need to develop win-win relationship to know better each other because this is the only way in which all of us will be more satisfied about which type of future we want to develop," he said.
Furthermore, Lubetkin highlighted Uruguay' commitment to deepening trade, cultural exchange, and mutual trust with China, with the current meeting helping to strengthen ties in this regard.
"We are finding new and new answers because the scenarios are changing and we need to change with the scenario, but the most important issue is to think in our citizenship in which they need to be in a better situation. And that is something that from Uruguay we are doing. We come here to increase our relationship with China, to increase our business with China, we increase our trade with China, but we want to develop cultural approach and cultural cooperation with China. We want to develop tourism between China and Uruguay and the region," he said.
Meanwhile, China has expressed deep condolences over the passing of former Uruguayan President Jose "Pepe" Mujica, who died on Tuesday at the age of 89.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular press briefing in Beijing on Wednesday that Mujica was a "prominent" and "deeply loved" leader who made a positive contribution to promoting the development of China-Uruguay relations.
Uruguay aims to boost trade, cultural cooperation with China: Uruguayan FM
