rnández keeps an ace in his sleeve if he arrives at the Casa Rosada: China's eventual financial

rescue

The presidential candidate of the Frente de Todos evaluates Beijing's economic aid for 5G
infrastructure, credit and technology projects

By Martín Dinatale

August 31, 2019

mdinatale@infobae.com

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Xi JInping, Chinese leader: the approach to Alberto Fernández, presidential candidate of the
Frente de Todos.

Xi JInping, Chinese leader: the approach to Alberto Fernández, presidential candidate of the
Frente de Todos.

Alberto Fernández knows that if he arrives at Casa Rosada he will have to restructure the debt
with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and face complicated years with an Argentina
cornered by the economic and financial crisis. However, Fernandez already has an ace up his
sleeve to accompany the complex negotiation with the IMF: a potential financing from China
to weather a political storm of unprecedented consequences.

The presidential candidate of the Front of All will seek an economic bailout of Beijing, if he
wins the election and has to negotiate an extension of the Stand By Agreement closed by
Mauricio Macri with the IMF. This strategy was confirmed to Infobae by the foreign policy
analysts of the Frente de Todos and its economic reference Guillermo Nielsen, who already
speak of the "financial lifeguard called China."

As it is a complex issue of geopolitics, where trade war between China and the United States
always appears, Fernández's new financial strategy moves behind the scenes and with the
largest diplomatic reserves.

In this context, Infobae has confirmed that Fernández held an informal meeting with China's
ambassador to Argentina, Zou Xiaoli, where they talked about future relations between the
two countries. It happened before STEP, and the commitment was to resume the talks when
the electoral contest ended.
However, the spokesman of the presidential candidate of the Front of All, Juan Pablo Biondi,
denied that this meeting existed and clarified that "for now Alberto will not speak anything
about China."

This informal conclave does not appear on the official website of the Chinese embassy, while
the political secretary of the diplomatic headquarters, Yi Yuanging, assured Infobae that he did
not remember the meeting between Fernandez and Ambassador Zou.

Since Mao's time, when diplomacy was reserved between Beijing and the western states, their
ambassadors never deny the meetings before a question from journalists. They just said: "I
don't remember."

Jorge Taiana, the former chancellor of Cristina Kirchner and current advisor to Alberto
Fernández also held meetings with the Chinese ambassador. The same did several foreign
policy referents of the Homeland Institute with Ambassador Zou where they commented on
the need to strengthen ties between the two countries.

"We should not get involved in the fight between China and the United States because it is not
our problem. What I would say is that the United States wants China not to enter Latin
America, to give Latin America the attention that China gives it. It can't be asking us to give up
investments that he doesn't cover either, "Fernandez said to local media.

In this scenario, China's eventual financial assistance to a possible Fernández government may
be a necessary tool in the face of the economic and financial crisis. The presidential candidate
already knows that the negotiation with the IMF will be long and strenuous.

The economist Nielsen - who advises Fernandez on the issue of foreign debt - used a metaphor
to talk about a possible Chinese bailout. "The financial world is like an ocean. One can dive in
deeper waters: today there are resources. It is easy to finance. Basically, there is the G7, China,
the Asian Tigers. Everyone has access to a pool of very large resources." , he said.

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