We'd better learn to play "Go," because the Chinese are coming. Petrobras is the cherry on top.
Unfortunately, the Brazilian press dedicates itself to publicizing soap operas like Moro vs. Bolsonaro. Relevant issues that will effectively change the future of the country and its people are not studied or publicized. The primacy of the banking sector will be maintained in much of the world, as the volume of resources invested is stratospheric and will not disappear overnight.
INTRODUCTION
In 2004, former President Lula visited China, bringing with him most of his ministers and hundreds of businesspeople. Several agreements were signed. Also in 2004, the then-President of China, Hu Jintao, visited Brazil, during which the Brazilian government granted China the status of a market economy, despite strong protests from the Federation of Industries of São Paulo – FIESP.
Five years later, in 2009, China was already Brazil's main trading partner, surpassing the United States.
At the closing of the 4th Brazil/European Union Business Forum in July 2010, foreign journalists questioned Lula about Brazil's relationship with China and whether it had an ideological connotation. Lula replied: "After the United States chose China as its preferred trading partner, I understood that this should also be good for Brazil."
In 2019, Brazil exported US$62,87 billion to China, generating a trade surplus of US$27,60 billion for our country.
In November 2019, Grupo Bandeirante signed a cooperation agreement with the Chinese media giant China Media Group. "The contract provides for joint productions and content sharing with the aim of promoting the development of relations between the two countries."
The Brazil-China Business Council (CEBC) reported that investments by Chinese companies in Brazil reached US$100,5 billion between 2007 and 2018.
Today, after Eletrobrás, the Chinese are the largest owners of hydroelectric power plants in Brazil.
Hydropower plants don't absorb labor and much less consume materials or new equipment. So why are the Chinese investing in hydropower plants in Brazil?
Whoever has this answer will be contributing greatly to the future of our country.
BOLSONARO GOVERNMENT X CHINA
In 2018, during the election campaign, Jair Bolsonaro repeatedly attacked China, not only for being a communist country, but also for its actions in Brazil, saying: "China is not buying from Brazil. It is buying Brazil."
At the beginning of his government, Bolsonaro, along with Paulo Guedes, visited the United States. They made declarations of eternal love for Uncle Sam. They saluted the American flag. They handed over Enbraer to Boeing and Alcantara to Trump.
In May 2019, Vice President Hamilton Mourão visited China and was received by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. On that occasion, Jinping said that the relationship between the two countries was at a "crucial moment."
During the visit, Mourão, alongside Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan, presided over the meeting of the Sino-Brazilian bilateral commission. The minutes of the meeting state that Wang and Mourão "positively assessed recent progress" and discussed the preparation of a ten-year plan (2022/2031).
In November 2019, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Brazil, and our president Jair Bolsonaro declared, "China is increasingly becoming part of Brazil's future."
A radical change in stance that our subservient media failed to register.
In March 2020, the Institutional Security Office (GSI), headed by General Heleno, despite protests from the American government, approved the participation of the Chinese company Huawei in the auction for the implementation of 5G technology in Brazil.
In an interview in April 2020, Vice President Hamilton Mourão stated, "Brazil and China have an inevitable marriage," a relationship "driven by pragmatism, not dogma," and that "the pandemic will cause significant changes in world geopolitics, increasing the strategic economic role of Asia."
Some sectors of the Bolsonaro government still oppose increasing Brazil-China relations, but events will overcome their rebellions.
TRUMP GOVERNMENT X GLOBALIZING NEOLIBERALISM
In the 80s, Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher promoted global neoliberalism.
Currently, Brexit and the election of Donald Trump are working in the opposite direction. Trump is a nationalist who prioritizes "America First" and wants "America great again." This is the orientation of Washington today.
Large investment funds (the banks) have no nation. Money has no homeland.
To understand the modern world, it is necessary to understand this conflict.
During the Bolsonaro administration, former minister Sergio Moro was aligned with Washington's nationalist ideology.
According to our friend, the great writer and thinker Pedro Pinho, "The president of Brazil is called Paulo Guedes" and "He was already designated by the international financial system, by the banks, by the supranational entity that controls the money in the world."
Without a doubt, Paulo Guedes is the main representative of the banking sector in the Bolsonaro government. But globalizing neoliberalism is in sharp decline worldwide, especially after the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite the Pró-Brasil program, launched by the Chief of Staff of the Government, General Braga Neto, having been temporarily removed from the agenda for political reasons, it is the only viable path presented by the government so far.
Therefore, the Pro-Brazil program should be resumed with force. Paulo Guedes, if he remains in the government, will be a figurehead.
But for this program to yield significant results, the participation of the Chinese and Petrobras will be necessary, as I tried to explain in the article "The Pro-Brazil Program is the way forward, but it needs Petrobras/China participation."
Chinese Growth
In just a few decades of extraordinary growth, China has transformed itself into the world's second-largest economy. With 1,4 billion inhabitants, the Asian giant has plans for global expansion.
The largest of these plans was launched by Xi Jinping in 2013: the New Silk Road, also known as One Belt One Road.
The plan aims to transform China into the world's largest economy by 2049, the centenary of the 1949 Chinese Revolution. But given current trends, it is more likely that this will happen well before then.
In Asia, investments exceed US$1,9 trillion, 13 times greater than the Marshall Plan, which rescued Europe after the Second World War.
The American government feels tremendously bothered by China's prominence, but doesn't know how to proceed. It attacks Chinese companies, but without consistent arguments.
Brazil is currently a key player in China's development. Within Brazil, Petrobras stands out with its pre-salt reserves.
The game “Go”
As is characteristic of Asians, the Chinese are patient and strategic. This does not mean that they fail to seize opportunities.
The board game "Go," created in China over 2.600 years ago and widely disseminated in Korea and Japan, is perhaps indicative of Chinese reasoning.
In this game, the main objective is not to capture the opponent's pieces, but to occupy as much territory as possible with your own pieces.
Learning to play Go is very easy because the rules are simple and few. The difficult part is actually playing Go, because the options for moves are ten times greater than in chess, for example.
The game starts with an empty board and the opponents (2) place their pieces (black and white) alternately.
Typically, at the beginning, each player accumulates pieces on their side of the board.
For a player to place one of their pieces on the side where the opponent's pieces are stacked, they need to know very precisely what their next moves and the opponent's moves will be. Otherwise, they risk losing their piece.
With the strengthened relationship and investments in Brazil as they have been doing, the Chinese are placing their pieces on the opponent's field.
Therefore, they are aware and know precisely what the next moves will be.
CONCLUSION
Unfortunately, the Brazilian press is dedicated to reporting on soap operas like Moro vs. Bolsonaro. Relevant issues that will actually change the future of the country and its people are not studied or reported.
The banking sector's dominance will be maintained in much of the world, as the volume of resources invested is stratospheric and will not disappear overnight.
However, in Brazil, the Chinese pieces are already in place. The trap has been set. There's no turning back.
Despite the opposition often expressed by some members of the current Brazilian government (especially those linked to the banking sector), the strengthening of the Brazil-China relationship is inevitable. In fact, it's already a reality.
It's difficult to understand where all this is leading Brazil. Perhaps we need to learn to play Go very well in order to understand.
* This is an opinion article, the responsibility of the author, and does not reflect the opinion of Brasil 247.