The book provides an examination of the evolution of China and Taiwan after 1949. This starting point situates the contestation for power between the two entities in the region after Taipei was recognized by the international community as the representative of China. The ramifications for Taiwan were drastic as country after country switched its recognition to China including those in the Caribbean and Latin America. Taiwan was able to maintain diplomatic relations with several countries in both regions through diplomatic strategies including providing financial assistance. This has waned over time considering China’s economic rise to power and Western Europe’s and the United States’ fall in global economic and political prestige and power. This book discusses China’s and Taiwan’s continuing engagement with countries in Latin America and the Caribbean with a particular emphasis on the sharp rise in trade between China and the two regions. China’s foreign policy agenda, and how Taiwan reacts to China’s policies, are also examined.

As the first English-language book on Taiwan’s relations with Latin America, this book examines the major issues and theoretical debates on Taiwan’s activities in Latin America, and its relations with the US and China. Latin America has become a crucial frontline for Taiwan. Today, more than at any time since the end of WWII, Taiwan’s future as an independent state hinges on the balance of power between the United States and China. This book provides the most detailed and sophisticated analysis of contemporary Taiwan’s relations with Latin America and offers insight into the US-China rivalry in the “backyard” of the United States. By bringing together a group of scholars from Taiwan, US, and Latin America, this book examines Taiwan-Latin America relations on various issues amid the intensifying the US-China strategic competition, such as public diplomacy, trade, investment, energy, and cultural exchanges. More than ever before, an understanding of Taiwan’s relations with Latin America and the great power rivalry in the Western Hemisphere is essential for students and policy makers alike. The book will be of great interest to university students at all levels, as well as specialists on international relations, foreign policy, as well as Asian and Latin American studies.

This volume explores the policy dynamics, economic commitments and social impacts of the fast evolving Sino-LAC relations. China’s engagement with Latin America and the Caribbean has entered into an era of strategic transition. While China is committed to strengthening its economic and political ties with Latin America and the Caribbean, Latin America as a bloc is enthusiastically echoing China’s endeavor by diverting their focus toward the other side of the ocean. The transitional aspect of China-LAC ties is phenomenal, and is manifested not only in the accelerating momentum of trade, investment, and loan but also in the China-CELAC Forum mechanism that maps out an institutional framework for decades beyond. While Latin America is redefined as an emerging priority to the leadership in Beijing, what are the responses from Latin America and the United States? In this sense, experts from four continents provide local answers to this global question.

This book represents the latest systematic study on relations between China and Latin American and Caribbean countries, one of the highest academic achievements of the Institute of Latin American Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in recent years. This book comprehensively examines the development of diplomatic relations between China and Latin American and Caribbean countries, and elucidates the great diplomatic achievements of China over the past 65 years. The history of relations marks the chronology of China's foreign strategy adjustment, and the evolution of pattern and change of internal and diplomatic affairs of Latin American countries. As a cornerstone of the discipline of Latin American Studies in China, this book is a must-read for the study of Sino-Latin American relations.

Public diplomacy has become one of the most discussed phrases in political science. This book examines the use of public diplomacy by China and Taiwan in Central America, where Taiwan continues to hold the majority of diplomatic relationships. Using Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Guatemala as case studies, and drawing on other examples from across the Caribbean basin, Alexander examines public diplomacy beginning with its point of reception in target countries. He asks: To what extent is public diplomacy designed to engage foreign publics? To what extent is it instead designed to engage broader international audiences and the source country's own domestic pubic? He presents a framework for considering the diplomatic truce currently in place between China and Taiwan, the modern histories of both countries, and the significance of diplomatic recognition as a weapon within international relations.

The Chinese migration to the Latin America/Caribbean region is an understudied dimension of the Asian American experience. There are three distinct periods in the history of this migration: the early colonial period (pre-19th century), when the profitable three-century trade connection between Manila and Acapulco led to the first Asian migrations to Mexico and Peru; the classic migration period (19th to early twentieth centuries), marked by the coolie trade known to Chinese diaspora studies; and the renewed immigration of the late 20th century to the present. Written by specialists on the Chinese in Latin America and the Caribbean, this book tells the story of Asian migration to the Americas and contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the Chinese in this important part of the world.

The Republic of China (Taiwan) faces a growing challenge as the number of countries that extend it formal diplomatic recognition continues to shrink. In the past, Taiwan was able to expend substantial amounts of money in competition with China for global diplomatic recognition. Today, however, as China has grown richer and more influential, Taipei has to spend smarter and tailor its giving more strategically if it wants to continue to leverage development assistance as an incentive for countries to refrain from swapping recognition of Beijing in exchange for economic rewards. How can Taiwan optimize its development assistance to Latin America and the Caribbean to ensure that it gets the maximum diplomatic value out of its generosity? What aid programs does Taiwan currently undertake in the region, and what does it get from its efforts? How does Taiwan's assistance fit with U.S. policy goals and giving in the region? Are there areas where adjustments could be made that would produce synergies between Taiwan and U.S. efforts while also reducing the temptation on the part of regional governments to de-recognize Taipei and switch ties to Beijing? This report explores these questions and finds that, on the whole, Taiwan's assistance to the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean is well-received, improving desired outcomes such as enhancing local livelihoods and contributing to greater resilience and more rapid disaster recovery and relief.