Cuba thaw to ‘benefit’ China

The historic move announced by US President Barack Obama on Wednesday to restore relations with Cuba will not threaten China's long-term relationship with the socialist country, but instead further open up Cuba and make it a better place for China to do business, Chinese observers said.

After severing diplomatic ties with Cuba in 1961, the US said Wednesday it will reestablish an embassy in Havana, the Cuban capital. The US will also review Cuba's designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism, take steps to ease travel and commercial bans, and will ease the embargo it has imposed on Cuba for half a century, according to the White House website.

Chinese observers said Obama's decision is an attempt to restore US influence in Latin-America by re-establishing relations with Cuba following a series of US policy failures, including interfering in the Middle East by launching airstrikes on Iraq, curbing Russia through economic sanctions and meddling in the Asia-Pacific region through military cooperation with Australia.

However, all the experts the Global Times interviewed agree that the resumption of US-Cuba ties will not harm Cuba's current relations with China. Instead, it will benefit China both politically and economically.

"China and Cuba set up a solid foundation a long time ago that will not be easily shaken," said Xu Shicheng, a research fellow in Latin American studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Cuba was the first country in the Western Hemisphere to recognize China in 1960, and China has assisted Cuba in its economic and social development for decades.

Politically, the improved ties between the US and Cuba will greatly raise Cuba's international status, easing the pressure placed on China by the US and other Western countries for its close ties with Cuba, Zha Xiaogang, a research fellow with the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, told the Global Times.

"On the other hand, Western countries like the US will better understand socialist countries through the re-established relations with Cuba, which is helpful for strengthening Sino-US relations," said Shen Dingli, director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai.

The Chinese government on Thursday welcomed a normalization of relations between the US and Cuba, expressing its hope that the US could end the embargo as soon as possible

"China will continue to support Cuba's political system and road of development. [Our] policy of developing friendly relations with Cuba will not be changed no matter how the international situation changes," Qin Gang, a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry said.

Economically, Cuba has had difficulty attracting Chinese investment for years. The improved relations with the US will make it more convenient for Chinese businessmen to invest in Cuba, Xu said.

"Current cooperation between China and Cuba is only about China lending money to Cuba, and Cuba buying things from China with the money they've borrowed," Xu said.

China is Cuba's second-largest trade partner, after Venezuela. Cuba imports almost everything from buses and cars to machine tools and household appliances from China. Many goods come with generous interest-free credit from Beijing, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

During Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Cuba in July, the two sides signed a dozen agreements, including new interest-free loans for infrastructure projects, credit to boost trade and extend Cuba's debt repayments to China.

Meanwhile, very few Chinese companies have invested in Cuba despite the efforts of the Cuban government. Cuba set up the country's first-ever special development zone at Mariel Port in 2013 hoping to attract Chinese investors. According to Xu, many Chinese companies have looked at the zone, but very few have invested due to excessive restrictions on investment and an underdeveloped business environment.

A thaw in relations between Cuba and the US is expected to create a more favorable investment environment for Chinese companies, Xu said.

Zha further explained that Cuba's economy should make great strides if the half-century-long embargo and other trade sanctions can be lifted, which would pave the way for Chinese investors to enter the Cuban market.

However, these benefits can only be fully realized if the US completely lifts its embargo and other sanctions on Cuba, which the experts see as doubtful.

Such a move still faces obstacles in the US, as many Republicans oppose restoring relations with Cuba. It remains unknown whether the US congress will allow the embargo to be lifted.

Also, many older Cubans in the 1.5 million-strong Cuban-American community left the island soon after the revolution, and remain opposed to fuller ties with Cuba, Reuters reported.