Uruguay is the Latin American country most influenced by China in foreign policy, only surpassed by Cambodia globally, according to a study by the Taiwanese NGO Doublethink Lab, based on 11 key categories for the development of each country.
“Uruguay shows conclusive evidence of Chinese influence in six of these eleven requirements,” reveals Doublethink Lab in a study on the global influence of Beijing, which confirms the advance of the Asian giant in the West.
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According to the investigation, China’s alleged interference in Uruguay’s foreign relations stood at 65.9%, the result of exchanges at the parliamentary level and the training of diplomats and officials from various ministries.
For the study, the Chinese presence was measured in the academic and technological environments, foreign and domestic policy, the media, as well as in the military and social spheres.
The report also does not rule out that “politicians or employees of the [Uruguayan] government have been pressured by diplomats from the People’s Republic of China to change their political or diplomatic positions,” and cites as an example the mandatory visa requirement imposed on Taiwanese in 2018.
It also points out Montevideo’s “silence” regarding Taipei’s desire to participate as a member, observer or guest in the World Health Organization, or Uruguay’s support for the appointment of Chinese officials as candidates to head United Nations agencies.
In addition, Uruguay maintains a position of neutrality in the face of Chinese territorial claims, denounces in the treatment of the Uyghur minority, the Tibetan population and the imposition of the National Security Law in Hong Kong, which Doublethink Lab interprets as “a tacit endorsement” .
Montevideo and Beijing are currently negotiating a Free Trade Agreement, a right claimed in a recent business forum by the Uruguayan president, Luis Lacalle Pou, who announced the imminent presentation of the letters for adherence to the Progressive and Comprehensive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
With information from Sputnik