The 31st meeting of Andean Community (CAN)’s Foreign Ministers Council recently gave China the green light unanimously. Experts say this opens a crucial foothold for China to push industries like artificial intelligence and electric vehicles, leveraging the rich deposits of gold, copper, and lithium in CAN’s member countries.
On September 30, Colombian Foreign Minister Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio, Ecuadorian Foreign Minister María Sommerfeld, and Peruvian Ambassador to Colombia and CAN Secretary General Gonzalo Gutiérrez attended the CAN handover ceremony.
China’s Growing Role as the World’s Reliable Partner
According to the South China Morning Post, while the Trump administration was busy “hiking up trade barriers”, Latin American countries looked for reliable global export partners — and that’s China. Unlike the US, which often prioritizes its own interests, China is seen as a stable and committed ally.
Leland Lazarus of Lazarus Consulting, which advises on Sino-Latin ties, summed it up neatly: “In other words, China’s message is, while the US is closing shop, we’re still open for business.”
Set up back in May 1969, the Andean Community is a key regional economic group, based in Lima, Peru, with four members: Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Bolivia. Chile and Venezuela left earlier, in ’76 and ’06. Since 1999, China and CAN have maintained contact through consultations.
Founded in May 1969, the Andean Community is a key regional economic integration organization in Latin America.
Jiang Tianjiao from Fudan University’s BRICS Research Center says this is a “new phase” for China and Latin America relations. Getting observer status deepens economics and investment ties, and it’s a key strategic step for the Global South.
Joining CAN boosts cooperation with Latin America and strengthens the voice of developing countries through formal regional participation.
Counterbalance to US Tariff Wars
In the midst of Trump’s tariff battles, China stands as a defender of global order and a major developing country that offers stability. Jiang says China’s role in CAN helps member countries hedge against tariffs and find alternative markets.
As an observer, China provides Latin America with more reliable export routes through regional cooperation and strengthens South-South collaboration against unilateral US pressure.
Lazarus highlights that China’s observer role in CAN offers a channel to advance its global governance proposals, like the recent initiative unveiled at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin.
He also points out the natural fit between CAN’s treasures of gold, copper, and lithium and China’s need for materials for AI and electric vehicles.
Bilateral relations between China and Latin America have broadened and grown in recent years. Latin America’s resource richness meshes well with China’s market and tech strengths, promising mutual benefits.
Fostering these links and bringing industrial chains together will help Latin America modernize sustainably and open fresh opportunities for building a China-Latin America community sharing a common destiny, while invigorating global economic governance.
China to Push Regional Integration Forward
CAN members see China’s observer status as historically significant, expecting it to boost cooperation, economic integration, and sustainable development, safeguarding developing countries’ shared interests.
Chinese diplomat Zhang Liping from Colombia’s embassy expressed readiness to implement the “five major projects” under the China-Latin America community framework and start a new wave of bilateral and multilateral cooperation for mutual benefit.
China’s Track Record of Growing Latin America Partnerships
In reality, China has been steadily boosting ties with Latin American economies through forums like China-CELAC. The 4th ministerial meeting this May in Beijing saw regional leaders recognize China as a “good friend and partner,” focused on joint growth and resisting bullying.
On May 14, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian emphasized China-Latin America cooperation has overcome challenges and differences. China pledges to support Latin America on core interests and key issues, promote three global initiatives, uphold multilateral trade, defend international justice, and foster global peace.
This cooperation is entering a “golden decade” aimed at strengthening the Global South’s unity and building a shared future for humanity.
Mao Paishou
** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **
The New Year barely begins, and Washington drops a flashbang on global diplomacy. A sitting president is forcibly detained and taken out of his own country — a move that blows past diplomatic convention and rams straight into international law’s red lines. On Taiwan, the chatter instantly turns into self-projection, as some people try to shoehorn a faraway conflict into the island’s own storyline. Anxiety spreads fast.
Maduro in cuffs, in a US federal courtroom — the raid’s image problem. (AP)
The South China Morning Post says the US action against Venezuela ignites a fierce debate on the island. Some commentary links the raid to the PLA’s recent encirclement drills around Taiwan, arguing parts of those exercises look, at least in form, like the US’s so-called “decapitation operations”: essentially a leadership-targeting operation. Some American scholars also warn this kind of play could set a dangerous precedent and invite copycats.
“Justice Mission-2025” rolls on as the Eastern Theater Command drills.
That debate doesn’t stay academic for long. It pumps up the island’s unease, with some people asking whether the same kind of military method could one day be copied and pasted into the Taiwan Strait. Even if it mostly lives in public talk, a high-tension political environment turns speculation into something that feels like risk.
People on the island don’t read the US move the same way. A small minority treats it as a US power flex, packed with intel integration, precision strike, and long-range reach. But the more clear-eyed view is harsher: such action chips away at the basic consensus of international order — because if major powers can raid at will and topple other countries’ leaders for their own aims, “rules” stop acting like rules.
Anxiety turns into politics
That worry quickly lands in Taiwan’s political arena. On Jan 5, multiple Taiwan legislators pressed Deputy Defense Minister Hsu Szu-chien at the legislature, asking how he views the US action against Venezuela and whether the PLA might replicate a similar model in the Taiwan Strait. Hsu doesn’t answer head-on. Rather, he merely mentioned preparing and drilling for all kinds of sudden contingencies.
Then he pivots to money. He urges the legislature to pass military budget appropriations quickly and plays up the urgency of delays eating into “preparation time.”
That kind of sidestep, unsurprisingly, only deepened public unease.
SCMP, citing multiple security experts, says the DPP authorities try to play down the association — but outsiders don’t fully rule it out. The reason, those experts argue, is the PLA’s continuing push to improve its ability to shift from exercises to real combat. On the island, that alone works like an anxiety amplifier.
Back in the real world, the PLA Eastern Theater Command has been running “Justice Mission-2025” exercises since Dec 29 last year. Official statements spell out the purpose: a stern warning to “Taiwan independence” separatist forces and external interference, and a move aimed at safeguarding national sovereignty and unification. The message is public and clear, there’s no gray area.
Some US think-tank voices pull a more confrontational takeaway from the US action. American Enterprise Institute senior fellow Hal Brands warns the US raid on Venezuela could create a “demonstration effect,” and he speculates China would watch those tactics closely. Some military commentators on the island seized the moment to hype fears, claiming the mainland might act during a “window” when US power is stretched thin.
That line of talk sounds like analysis, but it functions like a panic pump. US scholar Lev Nachman even says bluntly on social media that if a sudden military action hits the Taiwan Strait, the island could suffer “instant collapse” — not just militarily, but as a psychological shock to society.
KMT Chairperson Cheng Li-wun, in an interview, points to Donald Trump repeatedly stressing a shift of strategic focus toward affairs in the Americas. She says the Venezuela incident should be examined through the framework of international law, and she calls for disputes in any region to be resolved by peaceful means rather than force.
Cheng also reiterates the KMT position: uphold the “1992 Consensus,” oppose “Taiwan independence,” and urge Lai Ching-te to clearly oppose “Taiwan independence,” not touch legal red lines, and avoid continuously raising cross-strait conflict risks.
Rules talk meets reality
International reaction also turns critical of Washington’s approach. Multiple governments and regional organizations speak up quickly, condemning the action as a violation of the UN Charter, which explicitly prohibits using force to threaten or violate another nation’s territorial integrity and political independence. The telling part is the silence: the Western countries that often talk about “international rules” either zipped their mouths, or danced around the question this time.
Reuters says that even though China, Russia, and others clearly condemn the US behavior, the Trump administration is unlikely to face strong pressure from allies as a result. That selective muteness, by itself, drains the credibility of the international order.
On Jan. 5, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian commented again, saying the US actions clearly violate international law and the basic norms of international relations, and violate the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. China calls on the US to ensure the personal safety of President Maduro and his wife, immediately release them, stop subverting the Venezuelan government, and resolve issues through dialogue and negotiation.
