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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Chinese president builds economic ties with Cuba |
| 2008-11-19 |
| HAVANA (AP) — China's president was signing dozens of trade and investment deals with communist ally Cuba on Tuesday, part of a Latin America trip on which Chinese businessmen have been snapping up all manner of raw materials. Taking the long view at a time of financial crisis, China is investing heavily in commodity-producing countries, and Cuba is no exception. The deals agreed to by President Hu Jintao included purchases of Cuban nickel and sugar, along with pledges to send food and building materials to help the Caribbean nation recover from three major hurricanes. Other deals promise stronger ties in the future, such as a Chinese commitment to help renovate Cuba's aging ports, which are vital since Cuba receives virtually all its imports by sea. Hu also thanked Cuba for sending doctors to China after last year's devastating earthquake, and for educational programs on the island attended by about 2,000 Chinese citizens, including medical and tourism students. Cuba depended heavily on Soviet largesse and turned a cold shoulder to China during the Cold War's Sino-Soviet split. But ties warmed after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, and Cuba now has no problem dealing with both Beijing and Moscow. With bilateral trade topping $2.6 billion a year, China is Cuba's No. 2 trading partner after Venezuela, where socialist President Hugo Chavez provides nearly 100,000 barrels of oil a day to the island at favorable prices. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #9 ION CHINA, WORLD MIL FORUM > CHINA WARNS INDIA NOT TO MILITARILY INTERFERE IN BRAHMAPATRA RIVER DAM PROJECT + CHINA FEARS RUSSIA'S NEW ULTRA-NATIONALISM AND MILITARY ASSERTIVENESS, US-NATO EASTWARD EXPANSION, JAPAN REARMAMENT. ALso from WMF > CHINA TO DEPLOY "RED FLAG 9" LONG-RANGE AIR DEFENSE MISSLE SYSTEMS TO PROTECT NUCLEAR FACILITIES AGZ US-NATO AIR ATTACKS FROM AFGHANISTAN + CHINA TO BOOST PLA FORCES ALONG PAKISTAN BORDER. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-11-19 23:08 |
| #8 It's easy to match the US's offshore reserves when the only place they'll look offshore of is Louisiana. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2008-11-19 13:32 |
| #7 Raul Castro sang a song (in Chinese) praising Mao Zedong. He still hasn't mastered the kow tow. That will come soon. |
| Posted by: john frum 2008-11-19 12:53 |
| #6 You better watch Cuba... their offshore oil reserves match those of the U.S. Once they manage to tap them they will just laugh at the embargo Chinese are not dumb |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2008-11-19 10:22 |
| #5 i'm sure they could prob talk havana into making a gambling hayday comeback with a little beijing money maybe not cheap crap but still an enemy getting alot closer |
| Posted by: chris 2008-11-19 10:20 |
| #4 Uh, what? If Cubans have any money for cheap Chinese crap, it's only oil subsidies from the Venezuelans. The only reason Cuba hasn't starved like North Korea is because they're in the Caribbean, not on the frozen ass-end of the Sea of Japan. But really, the Chinese *like* deranged little communistic hermit kingdoms like Zimbabwe, North Korea, and Cuba. And the Gulf-of-Mexico oil claims is just the sort of detail to make Chinese resource-strip-miners just go absolutely stiff with anticipation. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2008-11-19 08:50 |
| #3 i said this yesterday about China not hleping out with the financial crisi, they are our enemy and just found new buyers for all their cheap crap |
| Posted by: chris 2008-11-19 08:17 |
| #2 Taking the long view at a time of financial crisis, Their only view is the "long view." Here's an early prediction. Obama drops the US trade embargo against Cuba and |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2008-11-19 07:27 |
| #1 Courtesy of the American consumer, business and political classes. |
| Posted by: ed 2008-11-19 06:33 |