By Joe Cash
BEIJING (Reuters) – China and Nicaragua upgraded their bilateral ties on Wednesday, the Chinese foreign ministry said, extending economic support to the sanctioned Central American government and furthering Beijing’s strategic ambitions in the United States’ backyard.
Beijing and Managua re-established diplomatic ties in 2021 after Nicaragua broke off relations with Chinese-claimed Taiwan, which U.S. officials attributed to the attractiveness of financial support from the world’s second-largest economy after Western countries imposed sanctions over human rights violations.
“The two sides unanimously decided to upgrade relations between the two countries to a strategic partnership,” according to a readout of a phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Nicaraguan counterpart Daniel Ortega to mark the second anniversary of the resumption of diplomatic ties.
“(China) firmly supports Nicaragua in steadily moving forward with its domestic political agenda and resolutely opposes interference in Nicaragua’s internal affairs by external forces,” the statement added.
Nicaragua reiterated that it will not have any form of official exchanges with Taiwan, the ministry said.
In 2018, Ortega’s government waged a bloody crackdown on anti-government protests – which it has made illegal – and has jailed dozens of opposition figures that officials have accused of fomenting a coup. Rights groups have denounced the actions as a descent into dictatorship.
Nicaragua has strategic importance for China given its proximity to the United States. In recent years, Beijing has steadily stepped up its diplomatic engagement across the region, establishing diplomatic ties with Honduras in May and offering support to nearby, diplomatically isolated Cuba and Venezuela.
China and Nicaragua signed a free-trade agreement in August, which the two leaders said they would “push for entry into force as soon as possible… to raise the level of bilateral trade”.
The world’s second-largest is a major investor in Central and Latin America and has also offered tariff-free access to its huge consumer market to Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Peru.
Alongside the United States, Nicaragua faces sanctions from Canada, the United Kingdom and European states, while a United Nations Human Rights Council report in March concluded the Nicaraguan government had committed “widespread and systematic human rights violations that amount to crimes against humanity”.
“The two sides agreed to carry out exchanges and cooperation in the field of peace and security and actively carry out personnel exchange and technical training,” according to the readout of the China-Nicaragua call.
(Reporting by Joe Cash and Qiaoyi Li; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Gerry Doyle)
