Argentina’s decision to cut ties with major countries such as China or Brazil could be a “serious mistake,” warned the Chinese foreign ministry on Tuesday. The ministry made its statement after Javier Millay was elected as the new president of Argentina, who has criticized China and Brazil and said he would not deal with “communists” while pushing for stronger ties with the United States.
China is an important trading partner of Argentina, whose elected government attaches great importance to relations with China, Mao Ning, spokeswoman at a regular press conference. An economist expected to become foreign minister under the Milena administration, Diana Mondino, announced that her country would not join the BRICS group. This news came as a surprise since Argentina was among the six countries that received an invitation to join BRICS, which is made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and the Republic of South Africa.
Mao responded to Mondino’s comment by stating that the two sides have strong economic complementarity and enormous potential for cooperation. She added that China is willing to continue cooperation with Argentina to promote stability and long-term development in bilateral relations. Despite Millay’s stance towards China and Brazil, it remains unclear how this will impact their diplomatic relationship moving forward.