Since Javier Milei assumed power in Argentina, the Foreign Ministry has been forced to put out diplomatic fires in Brazil, Colombia and China caused by aggressive presidential statements against the leaders of these three countries. The head of the Foreign Ministry, Diana Mondino, traveled to Brasilia and Bogotá in mid-April and this week she had her first official visit to Beijing to iron out differences and strengthen bilateral relations. In the last few hours, however, the new international controversy has been led by Mondino following a phrase uttered in an interview after the end of the trip to China. “At the Chinese base, no one identified that there were military personnel; “They are Chinese, they are all the same,” the newspaper Clarín titled the interview with the chancellor in Paris. The phrase spread like wildfire through networks and telephones and was accused of being xenophobic and discriminatory.
The chancellor rejected this Friday that her words had the meaning of denying the existing differences between the inhabitants of China and claimed to have been misinterpreted. She clarified that she was talking about the state inspection of the Chinese space station that had taken place a few days earlier. That visit served to clear up existing doubts—even within the Argentine Government itself—about a possible military use of the complex, located in a remote area of the Patagonian province of Neuquén.
“What I highlighted was the civilian nature of the staff, that there were no uniforms. The Argentines were also all the same, none of them in uniform,” he declared to Radio Miter. The presidential spokesman, Manuel Adorni, also came to his rescue. “Discrimination is not in his soul,” Adorni defended her in his morning press conference at the Casa Rosada.
Mondino’s statements were released at a delicate moment in the relationship between both countries: Argentina is trying to delay the repayment – scheduled for June – of a loan it received from China through a currency exchange. At the same time, it seeks to attract investments from the Asian giant to the country, especially the reactivation of the works of two hydroelectric plants in the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz that would represent an injection of more than 500 million dollars. The bilateral meeting in Beijing concluded without closing any of these objectives, but the talks remain open.
The attempted rapprochement with the Chinese authorities contrasts with the distance marked by Milei since he took office. Unlike previous Argentine governments, which negotiated with both China and the United States in an attempt to take advantage of the rivalry of the two powers, Milei has clearly positioned himself with Washington and has expressed his refusal to make pacts with a regime communist. After Milei’s election, the Chinese authorities warned the new Government that it would be “a serious mistake” to break relations given the volume of trade between both countries. Argentina took note. Although the anti-communist rhetoric remains intact, bilateral meetings and the search for agreements show a much more pragmatic face.
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