How China should understand and manage political risk in Venezuela has become one of the most important, if too often ignored, questions not just in China’s relationship with Latin America, but in its broader efforts to be seen as an agent and leader of development on the world stage.
Beijing’s role and response to the current economic crisis engulfing Venezuela needs to be further examined, particularly in light of China’s loans-for-oil relationship with the developing nation.
Panama's decision to establish ties with China heightens risks of diplomatic isolation for Taiwan, but the future of cross-Strait relations highly depends on the upcoming 19th Party Congress.
Maduro doesn’t really matter. He is simply a useful idiot, the puppet of those who really control Venezuela: the Cubans, the drug traffickers, and Hugo Chavez’s political heirs.
A meaningful change in China-Latin America relations requires inducing development and sustainable economic ties between the two players, notably through standardized protocols.
Latin America-China relations will change following the commodity bust in the region, but China will need to apply lessons learned in the region to other overseas development initiatives.
Venezuela’s political instability is causing China to reevaluate its financial investments in the country, the loss of which would be devastating to the South American nation’s fragile economy.
