In the 1990s China began establishing bilateral Strategic Partnerships with other states around the world. In South America, China has thus far established Strategic Partnerships with Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Venezuela, and most recently with Chile. The policy of reinforcing China’s bilateral Strategic Partnerships is, among other things, undertaken according to its strategy of “Peaceful Development,” and as instruments of political coordination in the seeking of support for common positions in international institutions. On their side, the South American countries involved have incorporated the establishment of their Strategic Partnerships with China into their policies in different ways. For example, the China–Venezuela Strategic Partnership has generated concerns about the use by Venezuela of a soft balancing strategy against U.S. influence. Hence, this presentation aims to analyze empirically whether the bilateral Strategic Partnership China-Venezuela is correlated with the soft balancing strategy that has been adopted by Venezuela against the U.S.
