China’s President Xi Jinping expressed support on Tuesday for Latin American countries’ “independence and self-reliance” as he met with his Ecuadoran counterpart Daniel Noboa in Beijing, state media reported.
Noboa, a staunch ally of US President Donald Trump, has travelled to China for a week-long visit which began on Sunday.
Trump, who is pushing for Latin American governments to crack down on organised crime and migration, has scored several diplomatic victories in the region since returning to the White House last year, with countries including Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica and Honduras having shifted to the right or consolidated conservative realignments.
In their meeting in the opulent Great Hall of the People, Xi told Noboa that “China supports Latin American countries in upholding independence and self-reliance, (and) conducting external cooperation based on their own national interests”.
“China consistently maintains that the status of Latin America and the Caribbean as a zone of peace should not be undermined, the path of development and revitalisation for countries in the region should not be interrupted,” the official news agency Xinhua quoted Xi as saying.
“Their right to independently choose partners should not be interfered with,” Xi added.
He called for China and Ecuador to “consolidate political mutual trust” and expand cooperation in energy, minerals, infrastructure and finance.
China has reinstated export access for eight Ecuadoran shrimp plants, Ecuador’s National Chamber of Aquaculture said in a statement on Monday, calling it “a significant step forward following several months of negotiations and joint technical work”.
