Economic Relations Between China and Latin America – A Constructivist View in Searching for the Bandung Spirit

Abstract

The increasing economic presence of China in Latin America is generating a strong response from mainstream academics and politicians, which basic claim is of imperialistic features. An anachronical comparison with the great European powers is made to justify the claim of a wave of Chinese imperialism and neo-extractivism in the region. This study relies on the Constructivist Theory of International Relations and Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) to challenge this claim by founding empirical evidence of the presence of the Spirit of Bandung in the economic relationship between China and Latin America. The hypothesis in this article is that ideational factors as solidarity and shared experiences are essential to form a new narrative that goes beyond seeking material capabilities and survival in a Hobbesian international system structure, as well as to construct the new basis for a more equitable relationship between countries. We use the Brazilian case to test the argument, and the computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CADQAS) called ATLAS.ti as the research technique. The objective is finding minimal evidence in the primary documents that point into the confirmation of the hypothesis.

Keywords: Economic Relations; China; Brazil; Bandung Spirit; Imperialism