Heine Explains Brazil’s Non-Signing on to China’s BRI
A new Foreign Policy analysis by Ambassador Jorge Heine, Research Professor at Boston University’s Pardee School of Global Studies, examines the global media frenzy over Brazil’s decision not to sign on to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which “raised eyebrows”.
Heine argues that the media is “making a mountain out of a molehill” when it comes to Brazil’s move. He explains that while Latin American countries began signing BRI agreements in 2018, the larger economies in the region, including Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico, held out for some time, not seeing enough benefit in formally joining the Chinese-led infrastructure program.
According to Heine, Brazil’s decision is very much in keeping with its foreign policy approach of “Active Non-Alignment.” This strategy, he writes, is about “putting one’s own country’s interest front and center and not letting oneself be pressured by the Great Powers.” Rather than a major shift away from China, Heine sees the move as simple prudence on Brazil’s part, avoiding “needless ‘rattling of the cage’ in a highly fraught international environment.” Furthermore, Heine asserts that regardless of Brazil being or not being a part of China’s BRI, the two countries would still engage in business together at a large scale.
Heine explains that as a diplomatic heavyweight chairing the G20 this year and the BRICS group next year, Brazil must carefully manage its position. Signing on to the BRI may have been seen as tilting too far towards China, upsetting Brazil’s delicate balance of relations with the U.S. and other powers.
The substance of Brazil’s foreign policy has not changed, and that this episode will soon be forgotten. “Brazil knows better than that,” Heine writes, noting the country’s traditional diplomatic caution. For him, the media frenzy is much ado about nothing when it comes to Brazil’s calculated positioning in the global arena.
Ambassador Jorge Heine is a Research Professor at the Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University. He has served as ambassador of Chile to China (2014-2017), to India (2003-2007), and to South Africa (1994-1999), and as a Cabinet Minister in the Chilean Government. Read more about Ambassador Heine on his faculty profile.