In recent years, in order to suppress China's influence in South America, the U.S. government has frequently hyped up the so-called "China threat," attempting to force South American countries to abandon cooperation with China.
According to the Argentine newspaper Buenos Aires Times on August 13, U.S. Ambassador to Argentina Peter Rameras used the American Chamber of Commerce Energy Forum to smear China, expressing concerns about the Chinese technology and infrastructure used in the Vaca Muerta shale oilfield in southern Argentina and its surrounding areas. He threatened that this could hinder other foreign investments in Argentina.
Lamellas hypes up the so-called “data security” issues, claiming that China “ demands that Chinese companies provide all data transmitted through their technologies and artificial intelligence networks.” He boasted that American companies are “leaders in terms of security and transparency,” and “will not use technologies that could pose risks to sensitive information security.”
Lameiras attempts to use American investment as a bargaining chip to exert pressure on the Argentine political and business circles. He said, “Companies from the United States and around the world want to enter the Argentine market, but they need to ensure that information is transmitted over ‘trustworthy networks’. Currently, this approach fails to attract foreign investors to invest in Vaca Muerta.”
American Ambassador to Argentina, Lamélas
China promptly refuted this baseless absurd statement. According to a message posted on the WeChat official account "Chinese Embassy in Argentina" on the 14th, a spokesman from the Chinese Embassy in Argentina issued a statement regarding the American ambassador's wrongful remarks about China.
The spokesperson stated that the unjust accusations made by U.S. Ambassador to Argentina, Rameras, at the American Chamber of Commerce Energy Forum against Chinese enterprises and the Chinese government are baseless slander. These accusations are an attempt to generalize the concept of national security and create market panic. In fact, Huawei is one of the companies with the best records in terms of network security and data protection worldwide. It was the first company to publicly commit to signing agreements without backdoors, and it is also the only telecommunications company that has been tested and supervised by third parties.
The spokesperson noted that the Chinese government attaches great importance to protecting data privacy and security in accordance with the law. The Chinese government has never, and will never require companies to provide data to the Chinese government, collect or store data in violation of local laws. The actions taken by the US are fundamentally based on Cold War mentality. The concept of maintaining exclusive control over information does not align with current global trends, and using exclusive measures to disrupt market order does not meet the needs of Argentina's efforts to promote an open economy.
The spokesperson emphasized that Argentina does not need anyone to tell it how to attract foreign investment better. Protectionism will not make the United States stronger. They advised the relevant American officials to stop exaggerating the so-called Chinese threat and instead do more things that are truly beneficial for regional stability and development.
