Brazil’s Lula Heads to China Seeking Deeper Economic Ties

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Image copyright: Handout [via Reuters]

The Facts

  • Brazil's Pres. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva embarked on a trip to China on Tuesday, accompanied by a large delegation of dozens of political representatives and some 240 business leaders, to boost economic ties with Beijing and reassert Brazil's role on the global stage.

  • This comes a day after his office announced that the state visit — originally planned to take place in March — was back on after being postponed when 77-year-old Lula was hospitalized with a bout of pneumonia.

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The Spin

Pro-China narrative

The large number of businesspeople and politicians that have joined Lula's delegation to China makes it clear that Brazil has finally understood that strategic autonomy is the key to developing an emerging market economy of its size and potential. Unlike the US, which has trapped Latin American countries with its capital and companies, China represents a golden opportunity to the South American nation due to the complementarity of their economies, their cooperation framework, and their common interest of promoting multilateralism.

Chinadaily

Anti-China narrative

It is politically concerning to the US that Lula's government has been attracted to the Belt and Road Initiative, as such a move would not only cement Beijing's influence in Latin America's largest economy and democracy, but it would also go against Biden and Lula's environmental agenda. The Biden admin. must take decisive action focused on supporting Brazil's climate mitigation policies, before it is too late both to curtail Chinese influence and to prevent environmental degradation.

The Diplomat

Metaculus Prediction