Photo: Chancery of El Salvador.
The Salvadoran Vice President, Félix Ulloa, and the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Adriana Mira, met in Beijing with the Vice President of the People’s Republic of China, Han Zheng, to strengthen ties between both countries.
The objective of this visit was to renew and consolidate the alliance and cooperation between the PRC and the Central American country, with a particular focus on economic growth through tourism, renewable energy and technology.
During the meeting, some previous cooperation projects were highlighted such as Sunset Park, the National Library and two projects that are set to begin development soon: the National Stadium and the Ilopango Water Treatment Plant.
These projects have raised great criticism among public opinion in El Salvador, however, especially after the statements of Vice President Ulloa, in November 2022, when he declared that China had offered to buy “all the debt” of El Salvador, according to the BBC. However, Ulloa claimed that these statements were taken out of context and both the Ministry of Finance and the Foreign Ministry denied any knowledge of such an offer.
China, however, continues to deepen its relations with El Salvador, increasing its exports and imports from the Central American country, and the countries have even declared their mutual interest in establishing a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
During the meeting held last Wednesday, “the Chinese Vice President recognized the leadership of President Nayib Bukele, who has outlined his own route for development, through ideas that have become policies and tangible projects; such as, for example, the victory in the war against gangs and the recovery of peace, making us the safest country in all of America,” stated the press release issued by the Presidential Palace of El Salvador.
In 2023, relations between both countries completed five years since their establishment, on August 20, 2018, at the hands of the country’s former president Salvador Sánchez Cerén. Prior to this, there were no relations between both countries due to El Salvador’s diplomatic recognition of and relations with Taiwan.
With the arrival of Nayib Bukele to power in 2019, the relationship between China and El Salvador improved. This approach has been viewed with a very critical eye from abroad, with criticism towards the “lack of ideology” from Bukele – who strongly criticized China in his first days as president during a visit to the United States, yet was subsequently awarded an honorary doctorate by Peking University and posed for a photo with his counterpart Xi Jinping shortly after.
However, this new alliance has so far resulted in “a gigantic non-reimbursable cooperation” to El Salvador, which would later amount to contributions of US$500 million, focused on infrastructure projects, which experts have called the Chinese strategy of “checkbook diplomacy.”
Know the main source:
Gobierno de El Salvador busca apoyo de China para turismo, energías renovables y tecnología | Revista E&N (2024, Abril 11). https://www.revistaeyn.com/centroamericaymundo/gobierno-de-el-salvador-busca-apoyo-de-china-para-turismo-energias-renovables-y-tecnologia-BK18567457
Other related sources:
Delegación salvadoreña encabezada por Félix Ulloa busca un “aliado” en China | elsalvador.com (2024, Abril 10). https://www.elsalvador.com/noticias/nacional/delegacion-nuevas-ideas-china-felix-ulloa/1135509/2024/
Vicepresidente chino recibe en Beijing a su homólogo salvadoreño Félix Ulloa | La Página (2024, Abril 10). https://lapagina.com.sv/nacionales/vicepresidente-chino-recibe-en-beijing-a-su-homologo-salvadoreno-felix-ulloa/
Las millonarias obras financiadas por China en El Salvador y qué papel juegan en la reelección que busca Bukele | BBC (2024, enero 25). https://www.bbc.com/mundo/articles/c80270wp71ko