"Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will be seeking political
support as well as energy deals when he visits China on
Tuesday, but Beijing is keen to stick to business and avoid
antagonising Washington, analysts say."
"...their courtship has raised hackles in US corridors of power,
where some officials fear the emerging Asian heavyweight is
trying to edge its way into Washington's sphere of influence
in South America.
Friends,
China's expressed ambition is to dominate Asia, to be recognized as the
legitimate 'regional hegemon'. It makes sense therefore for China to respect
that role for other powers in their regions (eg, US and Latin America). China's
refusal to give Chavez the kind of support he wants reflects this geopolitical
perspective. This also may suggest that China intends to stay out of any
conflict over Iran. We can't be sure however, partly because Russia is also
involved and Iran is right in Russia's backyard.
China, it seems, would be somewhat comfortable with Huntington's "Clash of
Civilizations" model, if it meant that China could the hegemon of Huntington's
"Sino Civilization". We know however, and China must as well, from the PNAC
addendum to "Clash", that all 'Regional Powers' are expected to be subservient
to Washington. For that reason a confrontation between the US and China remains,
it seems, inevitable, as long as those nations remain under the domination of
their existing elite regimes (in the case of the US, that includes the Democrats
as well as the Republicans, by the way).
Chavez is on an entirely different wave length. He's seeking a world where
nations interact for mutual benefit, not a unipolar or multipolar imperialist
world order. He is doing well by trading and making deals with both the US and
China, thereby strengthening Venezuela's defenses and bringing economic benefits
to the people of Venezuela. But Chavez will only find his real allies, allies
who share his vision, outside the circle of the Great Powers.
rkm
--------------------------------------------------------
Original source URL:
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=126&art_id=qw115606584296W643
Chavez seeks support, but China weary of US
By Emma Graham-Harrison
Beijing - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will be seeking political support as
well as energy deals when he visits China on Tuesday, but Beijing is keen to
stick to business and avoid antagonising Washington, analysts say.
The globe-trotting populist leader will spend nearly a week in China on his
fourth visit there and hopes to secure investment in oil production and shipping
- exploiting the shared interests of the world's number two oil consumer and its
number five exporter.
But their courtship has raised hackles in US corridors of power, where some
officials fear the emerging Asian heavyweight is trying to edge its way into
Washington's sphere of influence in South America.
Chavez will be aiming to drum up support for Venezuela's bid for a slot on the
United Nations Security Council, in opposition to US-supported Guatemala.
And he is always ready to bait Washington, which buys around 12 percent of its
crude imports from Caracas, by flaunting his ties with oil-hungry Beijing.
"All (Latin American) countries want autonomy but Chavez wants more than that.
He wants to go a step further and even confront the United States, so for that
China is an important actor," said Juan Gabriel Tokatlian, of the University of
San Andres in Buenos Aires.
Chavez may even visit China's secretive neighbour, North Korea, which recently
infuriated the United States by test-firing missiles.
The Venezuelan leader said in July he had received an invitation from Pyongyang
and planned to visit, although it was dropped from the itinerary of his last
trip.
But Beijing does not share Chavez's taste for public spats and has no desire to
dent Sino-American relations, which are gradually improving after trade and
currency disputes last year.
With Washington already fretting about Beijing's ties with Iran, and concerned
it is not exerting enough pressure on North Korea, Chinese leaders will be
keener to pore over oilfield maps than risk criticising the United States.
"We need their oil, and from a commercial point of view we are happy to buy it,
but we don't want to get caught up in the politics," said one researcher from a
government think-tank, who declined to be identified as the issue was sensitive.
"China's relations with America are more important."
At present, Venezuela's contribution to China's energy security is minimal, with
just 1,72 million tonnes of crude imports - 2,3 percent of the total - in the
first six months of the year.
The obstacles to more trade are mostly logistical. The trip to China is so long
that oil usually needs to be carried in very large crude carriers (VLCCs) for
shippers to turn a profit.
Venezuela's oil cannot be piped to Latin America's Pacific coast and VLCCs are
too large to journey through the Panama canal.
Once it reaches China, the heavy, sour oil is hard for most refineries there to
process.
"I would say the economic attractiveness is relatively low, then but China is
getting oil from everywhere," said Kang Wu at the East-West Centre in Hawaii.
China should probably look to gain profit and experience from Venezuelan
oilfields rather than extracting crude to ship directly to its own refineries,
he said.
"I see it as more of an investment opportunity, it makes more sense for them to
develop it and sell the oil elsewhere."
Chavez will head south to Malaysia from Beijing, for a trip expected to focus on
trade and investment ties.
One possibility is getting state oil firm Petronas, which has invested in 30
countries, to expand across the Pacific.
Additional reporting by Jalil Hamid in Kuala Lumpur.
Published on the Web by IOL on 2006-08-20 11:23:14
© Independent Online 2005. All rights reserved. IOL publishes this article in
good faith but is not liable for any loss or damage caused by reliance on the
information it contains.
--
--------------------------------------------------------
Escaping the Matrix website http://escapingthematrix.org/
cyberjournal website http://cyberjournal.org
subscribe cyberjournal list mailto:•••@••.•••
Posting archives http://cyberjournal.org/show_archives/
Blogs:
cyberjournal forum http://cyberjournal-rkm.blogspot.com/
Achieving real democracy http://harmonization.blogspot.com/
for readers of ETM http://matrixreaders.blogspot.com/
Community Empowerment http://empowermentinitiatives.blogspot.com/
Blogger made easy http://quaylargo.com/help/ezblogger.html
