China’s role in Latin America and the Caribbean has grown rapidly since the turn of the century, promising economic opportunity but also raising concerns over Beijing’s influence. China’s state firms are major investors in the region’s energy, infrastructure, and space industries, and the country has surpassed the United States as South America’s largest trading partner. Beijing has also expanded its cultural, diplomatic, and military presence throughout the region. Most recently, China celebrated the opening of a new megaport in Peru as part of its global Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The United States and its allies, though, fear that Beijing is using these relationships to pursue its geopolitical goals—like the further isolation of Taiwan—and bolster authoritarian regimes such as those in Cuba and Venezuela. U.S. President Joe Biden saw China as a “strategic competitor” in the region, but the reelection of Donald Trump, who has promised a wide array of trade measures, including tariffs on Mexico, could signal a significantly more confrontational approach to China in the Western Hemisphere.