| Abstrakt: |
Growing attention has been devoted in the last ten years to China's 'going-out' strategy around the world. The objective here is to analyse the modalities of China's presence in Latin America and to explore its strategic interests from Panama's privileged viewpoint. Panama is an interesting case, providing an example of a country capable to do business with both Taiwan and China. It therefore represents a regional success story in the fierce chequebook diplomacy between China and Taiwan, in which the shift of allegiance of Costa Rica in 2007 is only the latest episode. While securing energy and strategic materials still represents a priority for China, other aspects of the Chinese presence cannot be underestimated for a correct analysis. A key factor is the support Latin American countries, increasingly looking to China as a development model, can offer in multilateral fora, which suits China's objective of building multi-polarism. The special relation Panama entertains with the US makes it an important test of the bilateral relations between China and the US in the Western Hemisphere, which will ultimately determine many of the scenarios in Latin America in the coming years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
