China, Russia play alarming roles in US, says Tillerson
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned that China and Russia are assuming "alarming" roles in Latin America and urged regional powers to work with the United States instead. "China's offer always comes at a price," Tillerson said in a speech at the University of Texas, Austin, where he was once a student.
"Latin America doesn't need new imperial powers that seek only to benefit their own people," Tillerson said, in a major policy address before his first tour of South American capitals.
"China's state-led model of development is reminiscent of the past. It doesn't have to be the hemisphere's future," he said, warning that "unfair trading practices" would cost local jobs.
Tillerson said China was now the largest trading partner with Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Peru and said strong institutions and accountable governments were needed to secure sovereignty against "potential predatory actors" arriving in their region.
Tillerson said Russia had continued to sell arms and military equipment to unfriendly governments that "do not share or respect democratic values". "Our region must be diligent to guard against far-away powers that do not reflect the fundamental values shared in this region," he said.
"The United States stands in vivid contrast. We do not seek short-term deals with lop-sided returns," Tillerson said.
In wide-ranging remarks, Tillerson also pledged more help in Mexico's fight against drug cartels and Colombia's peace initiative and efforts to cut back on coca production.
He also called on both Cuba and Venezuela to embrace democracy, and said that updating the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) and striking other trade deals were a priority.
But his most pointed remarks came in his warning against Russian military sales and trade with China, which has displaced the United States as the largest trading partner for Chile, Argentina, Peru and Brazil. "Our region must be diligent to guard against faraway powers," he said in an echo of what Chinese officials say about the United States in Asia.
Left unsaid, though, was that the Trump administration has pulled back from trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which is intended to serve as a check on China. The Chinese have been eager to fill the vacuums left by the United States on the world stage.
Tillerson delivered his speech exactly one year after he was confirmed as Secretary of State. It was the most confident of his tenure, as he easily fielded students' questions with great detail and without notes. Stories have receded about Tillerson's troubled relationship with Trump and of his own imminent departure, a narrative supplied privately by critics in the White House.
Source -AFP, Austin
