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China–El Salvador relations

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See also: Foreign relations of Taiwan § El Salvador

China–El Salvador relations
Map indicating locations of China and El Salvador

China
El Salvador

The People's Republic of China and Republic of El Salvador have maintained diplomatic relations since 2018. China maintains an embassy in San Salvador and El Salvador maintains an embassy in Beijing.

History

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Diplomatic ties between China and El Salvador were first established in 1933 when the Nationalist government held control of mainland China while Taiwan was part of the Empire of Japan.[1] El Salvador recognized the People's Republic of China on August 21, 2018.[2] China's State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with El Salvador Foreign Minister Carlos Castaneda. They signed a joint communique on the establishment of diplomatic relations, deciding to recognize each other and establish diplomatic relations at an ambassadorial level from the date of the communique's signing.[2][3] The government of El Salvador severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 2018 during the administration of Salvador Sánchez Cerén under the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front.[4][5]

Trade

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China exported US$1.5 billion of goods to El Salvador and imported US$105 million in 2019. The major commodities exported by China to El Salvador are machinery, textiles, plastic and rubbers, and various miscellaneous items. The major commodities that El Salvador exports to China are electrical capacitors, raw sugar, and coffee. Between 1995 and 2019, exports from El Salvador to China have increased at an annualized rate of 14.7%, while exports from China to El Salvador have increased at an annualized rate of 16.6%.[6]

Development projects

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Further information: Belt and Road Initiative

In 2018, Asia Pacific Xuanhao (APX), a Chinese state-owned company with links to the People's Liberation Army and People's Armed Police, announced a plan to lease land within and around the port at La Unión, particularly islands in the Gulf of Fonseca.[7][8][9] The purpose of the lease remained undisclosed.[7][10] However, some sources stated that it was to "build an electronic network to monitor communications and satellite movements in the hemisphere and particularly those of the United States."[11] Salvadorean lawmakers passed a measure to prohibit the purchase of islands by foreigners in response.[9] In 2021, the United States designated local officials assisting in the attempt to purchase the islands "corrupt and undemocratic actors" for acting as "agents of the People’s Republic of China in exchange for personal benefit."[12]

Upon Nayib Bukele's visit to China in 2019, he had signed a series of MoUs with Xi Jinping, in which China would promise El Salvador a total of US$500 million in development projects. These projects include a new national football stadium, a new US$40 million national library, a tourist pier in La Libertad and Ilopango, and US$200 million on the "Surf City" project, thereby involving El Salvador in China's Belt and Road Initiative.[7][13][14]

Nayib Bukele announced on Twitter that a cooperation project granted by the People's Republic of China will have US$54 million new national library be built in El Salvador.[15] The Salvadoran President later announced on December 30, 2021, that the 50,000-capacity Estadio Nacional de El Salvador will be built to replace Estadio Cuscatlán as El Salvador's national football stadium, at a cost of US$500 million, in collaboration with China.[16][17][18]

Foreign aid

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In 2019, China offered El Salvador around US$150 million in social projects and 3,000 tons of rice to thousands of Salvadorian victims to droughts.[19]

The COVID-19 pandemic in El Salvador saw vaccine diplomacy increase between China and El Salvador. El Salvador received from China 150,000 vaccine doses of the CoronaVac vaccine donated by China, on top of 2 million Sinovac vaccines that the Central American nation had purchased.[20]

Culture

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In November 2019, El Salvador permitted the opening of its first Confucius Institute at the University of El Salvador.[7]

References

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  1. ^ "El Salvador chooses China over Taiwan". www.asianews.it. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  2. ^ a b "中国与萨尔瓦多建立外交关系 [China and El Salvador establish diplomatic ties]". CCTV network (in Simplified Chinese). 21 August 2018. Archived from the original on 9 February 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  3. ^ "Xi Jinping Holds Talks with President Nayib Armando Bukele Ortez of El Salvador". www.mfa.gov.cn. 3 December 2019. Archived from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  4. ^ Horton, Chris (21 August 2018). "El Salvador Recognizes China in Blow to Taiwan". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 11 March 2022. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  5. ^ "Former Taiwan ally El Salvador signs 'gigantic' infrastructure deal with China". Taiwan News. 4 December 2019. Archived from the original on 13 November 2021. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  6. ^ OEC. "El Salvador (SLV) and China (CHN) trade". Archived from the original on 26 June 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d "Coercion, Capture, and Censorship: Case Studies on the CCP's Quest for Global Influence". International Republican Institute. 28 September 2022. pp. 65–76. Archived from the original on 29 September 2022. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  8. ^ Hille, Kathrin (14 April 2022). "The Chinese companies trying to buy strategic Pacific islands". Australian Financial Review. Archived from the original on 16 October 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  9. ^ a b Londoño, Ernesto (21 September 2019). "To Influence El Salvador, China Dangled Money. The U.S. Made Threats". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 4 June 2023. Retrieved 29 September 2023. The special zone also would give China a valuable perch to expand its military and intelligence capabilities in Washington's vicinity, according to American officials...
  10. ^ "A project in El Salvador shows how China is exerting growing power in America's backyard". NBC News. 4 September 2021. Archived from the original on 29 September 2023. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  11. ^ Farah, Douglas; Yates, Caitlyn (13 March 2019). "El Salvador's Recognition of the People's Republic of China: A Regional Context". National Defense University Press. pp. 16–17. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  12. ^ "US designates 2 Salvadorans for helping China, corruption". Associated Press. 2 July 2021. Archived from the original on 29 September 2022. Retrieved 29 September 2023. The common denominator in both cases is Chinese businessman Bo Yang, who bought the island in November 2019...
  13. ^ Ellis, Evan (22 March 2021). "China and El Salvador: An Update". Center for Strategic and International Studies. Archived from the original on 19 February 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  14. ^ "El histórico acercamiento de El Salvador a China y la "gigantesca cooperación" que recibe a cambio". BBC News Mundo (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  15. ^ Nayib Bukele [@nayibbukele] (4 October 2021). "La nueva BINAES (Biblioteca Nacional de El Salvador) es un proyecto de cooperación no reembolsable (donación) otorgado por la República Popular China. Su costo será de 54 millones de dólares (incluyendo equipamiento y libros)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  16. ^ Bukele, Nayib (30 December 2021). "Aquí la sorpresa: EL NUEVO ESTADIO NACIONAL DE EL SALVADOR". Twitter. Archived from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  17. ^ Nayib Bukele [@nayibbukele] (31 December 2021). "Esta es una colaboración otorgada directamente por el Presidente Xi y una muestra de la amistad entre los pueblos de China y El Salvador 🇸🇻🇨🇳" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  18. ^ "Estadio que construirá China en El Salvador costaría $100 millones". El Gráfico (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 6 January 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  19. ^ "El Salvador president says China relations fully established". Reuters. 27 June 2019. Archived from the original on 30 September 2023. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  20. ^ "China to donate 150,000 Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine doses to El Salvador". Reuters. 4 April 2021. Archived from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
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