China’s rising clout in Latin America setting off alarm bells for US, says senior Pentagon official
- Washington at risk of being ‘out-competed’ by Beijing’s aggressive investment in the region, particularly in critical infrastructure like 5G
- Chinese outreach ‘absolutely global and right under our nose, so close to our homeland’, says General Laura Richardson
The US risks getting “out-competed” by China in Latin America, particularly in telecommunications and other critical infrastructure, setting off alarm bells for the US, a senior American military official said on Friday.
General Laura Richardson, head of the US Southern Command, delivered her observation on security challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean and their potential implications on US security during a discussion hosted by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.
Chinese outreach was “absolutely global and right under our nose, so close to our homeland”, said Richardson, whose command provides contingency planning and security cooperation with the Caribbean, Central America and South America.
“What the People’s Republic of China is doing looks to be investment, but I really call it extraction … and I’d say that it’s in the red zone.”
