China’s Relations with Latin America: Past, Present and a Challenging Future

In this video, Benjamin Creutzfeldt discusses his research on China’s relationship with Latin America. Drawing on the history of Sino-Latin American Relations, he critically examines China’s recent engagement and its consequences for Latin America. He discusses China’s Belt and Road Initiative and developmental aid as well as China’s project to develop Latin America Expertise as part of its engagement in the region. Furthermore, he debates future challenges and rising tensions between the US and China.

Benjamin Creutzfeldt joined the Centre for Modern East Asian Studies at the University of Göttingen in January 2021 and has been a visiting fellow since April 2021. Prior to that, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at SAIS Foreign Policy Insti-tute, Johns Hopkins University, and a Resident Fellow at the Wilson Center in Washington, DC. He obtained his Ph.D. in Political Studies from Externado University in Colombia, and is also a historian of Chinese art with ample experience as an auctioneer and start-up entrepreneur in China, Colombia, Panama and the United States. In parallel to his research ac-tivities at Göttingen University, Creutzfeldt is a lecturer for Chinese Politics and Society at Universidad del Pacífico in Lima, Peru. For the past ten years, he has researched and published widely on China’s relations with Latin America. He is interested in both the practical and the theoretical aspects of China’s foreign policy: diplomacy, and Chinese IR Theory. Research Interests: Chinese Foreign Policy; China’s Relations with Latin America; Diplomacy; China and the Global South.