Kishida Criticizes China's Expansion into Latin America... "No Economic Coercion Allowed"

Policy Speech on Latin America and the Caribbean After 10 Years

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stated on the 4th (local time) that "economic coercion and intimidation are absolutely unacceptable" in response to China's expansion into Latin America.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. [Image source=Yonhap News]

According to Yomiuri Shimbun, Prime Minister Kishida gave a lecture on Latin American policy at the University of S?o Paulo in S?o Paulo, Brazil, saying, "Economic relations based on trust, not power or intimidation, lead to fair prosperity. Economic coercion and intimidation are absolutely unacceptable." This marks the first Latin American policy lecture in 10 years since former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2014.

China is accelerating infrastructure development by expanding its Belt and Road Initiative (land and maritime Silk Road connecting China, Central Asia, and Europe) to Latin America. Kishida mentioned that China has trapped poor countries in debt through numerous loans under the Belt and Road Initiative and emphasized, "Japan will promote sustainable economic cooperation based on the actual conditions of partner countries."