Q&A
Matt Ferchen
{
"authors": [
"Matt Ferchen"
],
"type": "legacyinthemedia",
"centerAffiliationAll": "",
"centers": [
"Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
"Carnegie China"
],
"collections": [
"China and the Developing World",
"China’s Foreign Relations"
],
"englishNewsletterAll": "",
"nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
"primaryCenter": "Carnegie China",
"programAffiliation": "",
"programs": [],
"projects": [],
"regions": [
"North America",
"South America",
"East Asia",
"China"
],
"topics": [
"Economy"
]
}
Source: Getty
In The Media
Whither Venezuela After Chavez?
China’s business and trade links to Venezuela play a far more prominent role in shaping and defining the bilateral relationship than political or diplomatic ties.
By Matt Ferchen
Published on Mar 7, 2013
Source: Voice of Russia
Speaking to Voice of Russia, Carnegie’s Matt Ferchen explained China’s interests in Venezuela and how Chinese-Venezuelan ties will be affected after the death of Hugo Chavez. While Chinese business and political leaders are certainly anxious about the political situation that may emerge and the direction that the new leadership might take the country, the level of Chinese investment in Venezuela means that China would be happy with any Venezuelan leader who continues to encourage China’s investment and is a reliable and predictable partner, Ferchen said.
Although China and Venezuela have close business and trade ties, foreign policy and political relations are marginal, Ferchen added. Venezuela hopes that closer political ties and ideological support from China would follow closer business ties were not met. Instead, asserted Ferchen, Chinese State Owned Enterprises and banks played a far bigger role in forging the bilateral relationship, often acting independently of the government and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
About the Author
Matt Ferchen
Former Nonresident Scholar, Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy
Ferchen specializes in China’s political-economic relations with emerging economies. At the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center for Global Policy, he ran a program on China’s economic and political relations with the developing world, including Latin America.
- How China Is Reshaping International Development
- Why Unsustainable Chinese Infrastructure Deals Are a Two-Way StreetArticle
Matt Ferchen, Anarkalee Perera
Recent Work
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
More Work from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- A Path Forward on AI Safety for the United States and ChinaCommentary
“AI safety in parallel” is modest and pragmatic but vital.
Matt Sheehan
- Egypt’s Military Landlord Economy and its LimitationsPaper
The armed forces champion a form of capitalism that is generating revenue, but its reliance on rent faces diminishing returns, leaving the country with massive sunk costs and deferred returns, deepening dependency on external borrowing.
Yezid Sayigh
- Crime, Violence, and the Reshaping of Politics in the AmericasResearch
Latin America is undergoing a political transformation driven as much by the perception of insecurity as by its reality.
Robert Muggah
- Network and Structural Power: The Four Trend Lines Weakening U.S. LeveragePaper
Networks—from international payments platforms to key economic sectors—underlie many aspects of U.S. power. But they are suffering under an extractive approach to foreign policy.
Daniel W. Drezner
- Threading the Needle: India’s Path Forward with ChinaPaper
After the chill in ties between 2020 and 2024 that brought India–China relations to their lowest point in several decades, the two countries have engaged each other afresh. This paper argues that there are predominantly four imperatives guiding India’s approach to China, and they exist in an order of priority.
Saheb Singh Chadha
