Between Power and Plenty: unpacking public support for China's Rise in Latin America

• In Event: Tackling contentious international issues: Public Opinion and international affairs in Latin America

Abstract

China has become the main economic partner of many Latin American countries, yet little is known about what Latin Americans think about the effects of this phenomenon. Building upon survey data from seven countries we present a theoretical framework to assess the subjective appraisals on China’s growing role in Latin America. Based on the political-economy literature of subjective costs and benefits, we examine subjective political, economic and social costs and benefits derived from China’s rise. Our findings, robust to alternative measures of key variables, show that the perceived geopolitical rivalry between the US and China has a much larger effect on determining perceptions of China’s rise as being positive or negative, than the perceived economic effect of the Chinese boom of commodities on individual’s welfare, and the perceptions towards growing Chinese migration in large cities. These results suggest that Latin American citizens were strongly polarized on how they perceived China’s rise as a direct contestant of American hegemony.

Author

• Federico Merke, Universidad de San Andrés