The world of diplomacy is as secretive as it is ruthless. No one will say it in public, but they are embarrassed by the gross geopolitical mismanagement of Javier Milei’s presidency and the lack of competence of Foreign Minister Diana Mondino. However, the latest episode in the long series of errors has brought concern to the highest levels: the alleged welcoming of representatives of Taiwan by the Argentine minister was seen as a major provocation towards China, which considers the territory a separatist province and intends reunification. “In an extremely sensitive issue, the government has clumsily crossed a thin red line,” says a veteran diplomat. The Farnesina, for its part, denies the contacts, even if they are sure that they existed in the Asian country. This is why the embassy expressed its anger through social networks: “Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory and the Taiwan issue is completely an internal issue of China.” After the crossings and in a climate of maximum tension, Mondino will receive Ambassador Wang Wei tomorrow, in a face-to-face meeting in which he will not only deny the meeting, but will also try to minimize the offensive statements that Milei made during the election campaign and justifies the refusal to join the Brics. Juggling an increasingly closed foreign policy, which accumulates conflicts at the door and adds documents such as Mondino who defines Ecuador’s criminal organizations as “socialist groups”.
In just a few weeks, Argentina has broken the historic principle of neutrality on war conflicts in the dispute between Russia and Ukraine, has offended the emerging economies that make up the Brics, has bogged down the bond with Brazil and has put a strain on the relationship with the China. Instead, he has sided exclusively with the United States, despite not having the sympathy of Joe Biden’s administration. Of all the failed journey, the conflict with the Asian giant is the most serious. Not only because it is Argentina’s second largest trading partner and an important source of external financing, but because it constitutes a strategic ally in the Malvinas cause. In the United Nations Decolonization Committee, China has for years assumed a leading role to defend the principle of territorial integrity of the Islands and our country maintains a position of reciprocity towards Taiwan. So the secret meeting with the Taiwanese representatives set off all the diplomatic alarms. “It is a very delicate issue. If that meeting had not existed, the Government would have had to publicly deny it and ratify that the Argentine position is that of “one China”, underline the opposition and indicate that the meeting actually took place .
secret relationships
The summit of discord would take place on December 26 in the San Martín Palace. A few days after the presidential inauguration, Taiwan’s representative in Argentina, Miao-hung Hsie, reportedly visited the building on Arenales Street, although he had not been officially informed. The demonstration aroused the anger of the Chinese authorities, who consider an event of this scale unacceptable. “Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory, and the Taiwan issue is completely an internal issue of China. The key to maintaining cross-Strait peace and stability is to uphold the one-China principle,” the Asian embassy in Buenos Aires said. Government officials lowered the price of the statement, stressing that the message merely “ratifies the historical position” of the country, but does not refer to any meeting. The only thing they admit are two indisputable facts: that the connection with Hsie is real, to the point that on November 19 he went to the Hotel Libertador to celebrate Milei’s triumph; and that this approach further complicates the relationship with China.
In the embassy of the Asian country they have no doubts about the meeting and are disconcerted by the attitude of the Argentine government. “It’s not clear. We buy soybeans and meat, not Taiwan”, they say and do not exclude that these clashes imply a reduction in trade in the future. The anger and concern are of such magnitude that even representatives of the Rural Society have communicated in the last few hours with Chinese diplomats to find out to what extent the conflict could worsen.
Two other key issues also appear on the table. On the one hand, the need for external financing and the desire of the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo, to exploit the exchange with China. Following the diplomatic clashes, the tranche of $6.5 billion approved for the administration of Alberto Fernández has been frozen until further notice. To activate the exchange of currencies it is essential that there are signs of reciprocity, which clearly would not happen today. And the other focus is what will happen with the construction of the Santa Cruz dams. In this regard, the president of the Chinese company Gezhouba, Zhang Jun, asked the governor of the province, Claudio Vidal, to intercede with Milei, to obtain certainty on the progress of the work.
Tomorrow Mondino will be able to resolve differences on this entire agenda in what will be his first official meeting with Ambassador Wang Wei. It will be the second time they see each other’s faces. The first occurred a few days after the presidential elections. On that occasion, she was forced to apologize to the Chinese government for Milei’s belligerence during the campaign, where she had declared that she would sever relations with Xi Jinping’s government as a “communist”. She had made the same threat to “Lula” Da Silva in Brazil. The apology was accompanied by an invitation to the presidential inauguration ceremony. Neither head of state agreed to take part in the celebration.
Card for Ecuador
The missteps of libertarian governance are not just limited to China or Brazil. Mondino also exposed himself yesterday with a piece of paper, disavowing the serious political-social situation that Ecuador is experiencing due to the growing criminal violence. After expressing her “total support” for Daniel Noboa’s government and its security forces, the chancellor spoke of a “coup attempt by socialist narco-terrorist groups”.
The absurd reference to socialism – an adjective that no one used in Ecuador or anywhere else in the world -, added to the conflict over Taiwan, generated so much rejection in so few hours that many leaders began to tell former MP Federico Pinedo “warm up, you’re coming in.” “. He denies it diplomatically.
2024-01-11 03:49:42
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