Mao Ning, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, attends a press conference in Beijing, China, July 26, 2023. Portal/Tingshu Wang/File Photo Acquire License Rights
BEIJING, Nov 21 (Portal) – China is ready to work with Argentina to keep relations on a “stable” course, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday, following the victory of a right-wing libertarian in the presidential election, he said will not do business with communists.
Argentine President-elect Javier Milei has criticized China and Brazil, which are among his country’s most important trading partners. A few months ago, Milei even compared the Chinese government to an “assassin” and said the Chinese people are “not free.”
Milei’s tough comments on China contrast sharply with a promise of cooperation from outgoing President Alberto Fernandez, who visited Beijing last month and hailed China as a “true friend” of Argentina.
Fernandez also promised coordination with China within frameworks such as the G20 and BRICS.
“Bilateral relations between China and Argentina have shown solid growth momentum,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said.
“China is willing to work with Argentina to keep our relations on a stable course,” she said.
But Diana Mondino, an economist targeted as foreign minister in the Milei government, was quoted by Russian state news agency RIA Novosti as saying that Argentina would “stop interaction” with the governments of China and Brazil when asked , whether Argentina would support exports and imports with these countries.
Mondino previously told Portal that under Milei, Argentina had no intention of joining the BRICS group, which also includes China and Russia. Argentina was among six countries invited to become new members of BRICS, a bloc whose members also include Brazil, India and South Africa.
Mao, asked at a regular news conference about the comments attributed to Mondino, said the characterization of Mondino’s comments was different from that of the interview published by RIA Novosti.
“Mondino said in the interview that some in the world had misunderstood President-elect Milei’s foreign policy,” Mao said.
“No country could withdraw from diplomatic relations and still be able to engage in economic trade and cooperation. “It would be a big foreign policy mistake for Argentina to break off relations with big countries like China or Brazil,” Mao said.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said later on Tuesday that Mao had quoted Mondino as saying it would be a mistake to cut ties with China or Brazil.
Portal could not immediately find a version of the interview that included those comments. Mondino did not respond to a request from Portal to clarify her comments to RIA Novosti.
Earlier this month, Mondino said Argentina had no problem trading with Brazil and that as for China, Milei would seek to end opaque agreements between the states.
“What we won’t do is secret contracts. Argentina, this government, has conducted several secret negotiations over the last 20 years,” she said. “This is not normal and we said we wouldn’t do it.”
Chinese state media have so far downplayed Milei’s comments but said it would be Argentina’s loss if it excluded China from its market.
Reporting by Ryan Woo; Editing by Alex Richardson and Grant McCool
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