According to the Russian Satellite News Agency and other media reports, the Argentine Foreign Ministry released a message saying that Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino plans to visit China at the end of April with the aim of strengthening bilateral relations.
China and Argentina have good diplomatic relations. China has also made great contributions to the dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the Falklands, China's unequivocal support for Argentina's claims at the United Nations on several occasions, and Argentina's decision to join the BRICS organization.
Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino
However, some of the remarks and deeds made by the new Argentine President Milley before and at the beginning of his tenure hurt the relations between China and Argentina to some extent, or at least alienated China.
For example, he described China as an "assassin", said that he would actively develop diplomatic relations with the United States and Israel after taking office, and decided to temporarily suspend joining the BRICS after the BRICS had already approved their membership.
Against the backdrop of the first BRICS summit to be held in Russia in October, it is somewhat surprising that the Argentine Foreign Ministry has suddenly announced that its foreign minister will visit China to strengthen diplomatic relations between the two sides.
So, why did Argentina do this? What was the purpose of Milley's foreign minister's intention to visit China? Is it because he wants to "rejoin the group"?
Argentine President Milley
First of all, from the perspective of Argentina's overall attitude towards China after Milley came to power, we can actually see a clear development line, that is, as Milley has changed from a presidential candidate to president, and has been in power for longer and longer periods, he and the current Argentine government's attitude towards China has become more and more enthusiastic day by day.
When he was a candidate, he directly said that he did not want to deal with China; after taking over as president, he immediately became less fierce and said that he was willing to "make friends" with everyone; and after being in power for a little longer and understanding the economic and trade relations between China and Argentina, he began to take the initiative and quickly appoint an ambassador to China, obviously with the intention of continuing to maintain relations with China.
And now, he has taken the initiative to send foreign ministers to visit China to seek "strengthening bilateral cooperation". Since it wants to be "strengthened", it is that it feels that the degree of "friendship" between the previous government and China is not enough, and it needs to be more friendly.
At this point, it can almost be said that just a few months later, Milley, the president who threatened to "keep his distance" from China, has become a "pro-China faction", and he now not only wants to inherit the foundation of his predecessor's relationship with China, but also wants to go further.
Central Bank of Argentina
As for the reason for this change, of course, it has to do with the political situation in Argentina. To put it in layman's terms, the biggest problem facing the current Argentine government is actually the problem of the debt crisis and the difficulty of maintaining the high welfare system.
Therefore, as long as the Argentine Government can raise sufficient funds, it will be able to solve the problem.
At first, Milley thought that as long as the government functions were reduced and everything was left to the market, he could "throttle" and save a sum of money, and at the same time sell Argentina's national assets, and he could also "open source" and make a lot of money. In this way, the debt crisis that has plagued Argentina for decades seems to be solved.
When he became president, Milley did exactly that. And in the first two months, it did create a fiscal surplus, which seems to have turned around Argentina's crisis.
The Argentine economy
But in reality, the relevant political manipulation does not "turn out money", it is essentially just using the administrative efficiency of the government to redistribute the original property and money in Argentina to a certain extent. To put it bluntly, it is to sell some of Argentina's public assets and state-owned assets to foreign capital, and then solve the government's financial crisis.
This is tantamount to the government taking away the money from the people in disguise, and one of the inevitable results is that the financial crisis of the Argentine government has eased a little, but the poverty rate in Argentina has soared.
A country that is already in the trap of economic recession will not be able to use this predatory reform program to improve the government's financial situation, because it will inevitably bring backlash, such as social unrest, political strife, and so on.
And now, Milley is actually in trouble, and the economic reform package he hopes to push through will not pass the Argentine Senate.
Argentine Parliament
In other words, it is already difficult to continue to take money from ordinary people in a different way to solve the Argentine government debt crisis. At this time, if the Milley government wants to reform and stabilize its governance, it has to think of other ways.
In addition to tossing and turning at home, Milley wants to find money abroad, there are no more than two ways. In the short term, it is to continue to borrow money, and in the long term, it is to use domestic resources to sell money.
However, these two methods are now inseparable from China. From the perspective of borrowing money, Milley may have intended to borrow money from the United States or other Western countries when he first took office.
However, Western countries, especially the United States, are very aware of Argentina's economic situation, and in fact, a large part of the tens of billions of dollars in loans from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund that Argentina now bears is funded by the United States.
IMF
Against this background, it is clear that the United States does not want to continue to lend money to Argentina. In addition, the United States itself is highly indebted, facing a serious debt crisis, and has no money to borrow.
From the perspective of selling money with domestic resources, China is now Argentina's largest investor in lithium ore resources and other countries, and it is also Argentina's largest export market for various agricultural products. In other words, if you want to take the road of long-term cooperation and make money together, you still can't do without China.
At this time, Milley must of course seek to improve relations with China, whether it is from the perspective of whether the reforms he has promoted can be continued, or from the perspective of Argentina's own interests.
As for the purpose of the Argentine foreign minister's planned visit to China, it is actually clear: to continue to seek financing support from China, which will allow them to avoid another debt default, avoid bankruptcy and avoid "liquidation" by the International Monetary Fund.
Argentine Ambassador to China Ma Zhiyuan
Either they want to continue to seek Chinese investment and expand cooperation with China to "make blood" into the Argentine economy, and even Milley himself said that he "has no intention of changing the $18 billion currency swap agreement between China and Argentina."
Whatever the reason, it fully shows that it is difficult for Argentina today to really "stay away" from China if it wants to develop itself, or even just maintain its own stability. It's not too late for Milley to wake up.