On Monday, October 28th, a senior advisor of the Brazilian government stated that Brazil has decided not to join the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by the CCP leader Xi Jinping, but instead seeks alternative ways to cooperate with Chinese investors.
Under the leadership of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian government has become the second country among the BRICS nations, following India, to not support the project.
According to Brazilian newspaper O Globo, Celso Amorim, the special advisor for international affairs to the Brazilian president, claimed that the government “intends to take its relationship with China to a new level, but without the need to sign a treaty.”
He explained that Brazil does not want to see China’s infrastructure and trade projects as a “blank check.”
Amorim was quoted by the South China Morning Post as saying that the aim is to use parts of the Belt and Road framework to seek “synergies” between Brazilian infrastructure projects and investment funds related to the initiative, without necessarily formally joining it.
The Belt and Road Initiative led by the CCP has faced controversies in many countries over debt traps and is notorious as a tool for advancing China’s geopolitical ambitions.
Amorim emphasized that Brazil has its own infrastructure projects as a priority and hopes to receive funding for these projects. He also admitted uncertainty about whether Beijing would accept these projects and provide financial support.
This decision goes against the CCP’s plans. The CCP had hoped for Brazil to join the Belt and Road Initiative as a core issue during Xi Jinping’s visit to Brasília on November 20. However, officials from the Brazilian Ministry of Economy and Foreign Affairs recently expressed opposition.
Last week, the United States urged Brazil to consider the risks of the CCP’s Belt and Road Initiative. US Trade Representative Katherine Tai stated that Brazil should approach joining the CCP’s initiative with caution.
The BRICS group was initially formed by Russia, India, China, and South Africa, with Brazil joining later. This year, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates have been absorbed as new members.
As the first country among the BRICS nations to refuse to join the CCP’s initiative, India has consistently criticized the Belt and Road Initiative, protesting against China’s construction of the so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, which India claims as its sovereign territory.
Dr. Deepak Vohra, a former Indian diplomat to multiple countries and ambassador to Poland, as well as an advisor to African governments, previously told Epoch Times that the Belt and Road Initiative is a “century-long scam.”