Good name or good money: China’s public image and SOEs operating in Latin America with Dr. Benjamin Creutzfeldt

On May 11, 2018, we welcomed Professor Benjamin Creutzfeldt PhD to Tsinghua University to help us understand China’s involvement in Latin America. Dr. Creutzfeldt has extensive experience in Asia and Latin America, having spent years teaching in Colombia and Mexico, and as a China specialist for Christie’s. Now he is a Resident Postdoctoral Fellow for China-Latin America-US Affairs at the Foreign Policy Institute, Johns Hopkins’ School for Advanced International Studies.

名誉还是金钱？——中国在拉美的公共形象和国有企业的发展

5月中旬，Benjamin Creutzfeldt教授来到清华为我们介绍中国在拉美的发展情况。 Creutzfeldt博士曾在哥伦比亚和墨西哥任教多年，拥有丰富的亚洲和拉丁美洲研究经验，他同时还担任佳士得的中国专家。现在，他是约翰霍普金斯SAIS外交政策研究所中国 – 拉美-美国事务驻校博士后研究员。

Professor Creutzfeldt began his presentation with background on Sino-Latino relations, acknowledging that there is a lack of experts in the field since it is more common for academics to focus on the US-China relationship. The region’s proximity to the US has influenced China’s rhetoric about the region. Professor Creutzfeldt presented excerpts of two speeches, one of former US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and the other of China’s current Vice President Wang Qishan. Tillerson argued that Latin America needed to be careful and wouldn’t like Chinese intervention in its affairs as a region, while Wang spoke about a peaceful partnership and alluded to the region’s proximity to its powerful northern neighbor.

Professor Creutzfeldt provided graphs depicting Chinese investment in Latin America. He pointed out that while investments are into the billions of USD in several countries, this money represents only a small portion of the countries’ capital flows from foreign investors. China invests primarily in the energy and agricultural sectors of the region as it is very resource rich, and China’s massive population necessitates the importation of foodstuffs and energy. What is tricky are the moral implications of the extraction industries.

Professor Creutzfeldt provided a case study about the China National Petroleum Corporation to emphasize potential hazards of the extraction industry in Latin America and how companies can avoid them. The company focused decision-making in Peru around indigenous tribe interest groups who strongly objected to the company’s oil drilling in certain portion of the Peruvian Amazon. He used the case study as an example of how China must expand its understanding of sustainable international investment to include local community and general public opinion, not just opinion at the government level. By incorporating this concept, Chinese companies can avoid some of the pitfalls of previous investors in Latin America.

One student voiced concern that China’s involvement in the region had seen some backlash from indigenous groups, and that many Latin American and Chinese people lack a basic understanding of each other’s cultures. Another student shared that in Colombia China had been very supportive financially which eventually pushed the US to increase its financial support as well, thus creating competition between the two powers for Colombia’s business. Professor Creutzfeldt used the two perspectives to explain that while Latin America is a region that shares a common language and colonial history, it is made up of 33 extremely diverse countries that do not view China in a united way.

Noting the different complications and issues surrounding China’s involvement in Latin America, he asked us what could improve the situation? Several students stressed that educating the public in China and Latin American countries was of the upmost importance to decrease xenophobic tendencies and allay tensions between Chinese companies and locals. Another student pointed out that perhaps China could join the Pacific Trade Alliance, although China historically is weary of alliances. While another voiced the role embassies and civil society needed to play in increasing communication between these two regions. Dr. Creutzfeldt finished his presentation by encouraging us to continue to think of ways cooperation between the two regions could be achieved and provided us with various sources to help deepen our understanding of Sino-Latino relations.

Creutzfeldt教授首先介绍了中国与拉美的总体关系及该领域研究现状，他指出，该领域目前十分缺乏相关专家，因为大多数学者们都把精力放在了中美关系上。然而，研究中－拉关系显然绕不开美国。目前来看，拉美地区与美国的近邻关系在一定程度上影响着中国对于拉美的部分观点。Creutzfeldt教授摘录了中美两位领导人演讲的部分语录，其中一位是美国前国务卿蒂勒森，​​另一位是中国国家副主席王岐山。在各自的演讲中，蒂勒森提醒拉美国家要格外警惕中国对其地区事务的干涉，而王岐山则强调了发展中拉和平伙伴关系的重要性。两国对于这一地区的重视以及利益分歧可见一斑。

Creutzfeldt教授展示了中国在拉美投资数据的一系列图表。他指出，虽然中国在几个国家的投资已经达到了数十亿美元，但这笔资金仅占中国对外投资的一小部分。中国资源丰富，但由于人口基数大，中国每年仍需要进口大量食品和能源，目前中国在拉美的投资就主要能源和农业领域。

在会上，Creutzfeldt教授提供了一个关于中国石油天然气集团公司的案例研究，以此来展示中国国有企业在拉丁美洲投资资源开采行业的潜在危害以及应对策略。案例中，中石油在秘鲁亚马逊部分地区的石油钻井项目面临着当地土著部落利益集团的强烈反对。Creutzfeldt表示，此类案例说明中国应该加深对可持续国际投资的理解，并将当地舆论纳入考量因素，而不仅仅是倾听政府层面的意见。通过研究这些案例，后继的中国公司可以总结经验，将前任投资者的失败当做前车之鉴，从而更好地为中拉双方谋福利。

在提问环节，一名TSDM学者对于中国在该地区的经济活动已经引起了部分当地部落反感的现象表示了担忧，他指出拉美和中国之间缺乏对彼此文化的基本了解很可能是造成这一问题的主要原因之一。针对中美在拉丁美洲的竞争，另一名学者提到，据他了解，中国近年来对哥伦比亚的大力财政支持，导致美国也不得不增加其对哥的支持力度，诸如此类的事实使得两国在哥伦比亚的商业竞争愈演愈烈。Creutzfeldt教授解释道，虽然拉丁美洲是一个拥有共同语言和殖民历史的地区，但它是由33个极其多元化的不同国家组成的，每一个国家都有着自己看待中国的独特方式。

针对中国在拉美地区投资和发展的复杂性，Creutzfeldt教授询问了我们对于双方的建议。一名学者表示，中国与拉美各国应加强本国民众对于对方国家及双边关系的认识，这对于减少拉美排华倾向，缓解中国公司与当地民众之间的紧张关系具有重要意义。另一名学者指出，中国也许可以通过加入跨太平洋伙伴关系协定（TPP）来提升现状。也有学者表示，大使馆和民间社会团体需要发挥更大的作用，以增加这两个地区之间的沟通和交流。Creutzfeldt教授鼓励我们继续思考如何更好地实现和深化两个地区间的合作，并表示愿意在今后为我们持续提供更多的研究资源以加深我们对中拉关系的理解。