China says Latin America is no one's backyard

Published at: 15/04/2025 10:20 AM

The Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China, Wang Yi, told the United States (USA) last Monday that Latin American countries “are not anyone's backyard.”

“What Latin Americans want is to build their own home, not to be someone else's backyard. What they are looking for is independence, not doctrines of domination,” Yi said, according to a statement published by the Chinese Embassy in Brazil on social media.

The reaction came last Sunday, after the head of the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, assured in an interview with a media outlet that the US government is “regaining” control of its “backyard” after years of China's “influence” in the countries of South and Central America.

Hegseth made the statement to a television network recounting his impressions of his visit to Panama last week and talking about the progress he made in the mission assigned to him to regain control of the channel.

“President Trump said (...) that China has too much influence over the Panama Canal and that the United States was going to take it back. That's exactly what he entrusted me with,” Hegseth said.

He also added that, supposedly, “Chinese influence cannot control our backyard, especially when it comes to a critical waterway such as the Panama Canal,” he said.

Mazo News Team