China’s Anxieties in Latin America: What Mobility and Knowledge Mean for US Strategy

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US strategy in Latin America concentrates on the visible assets of Chinese influence: ports, mines, and loans. Yet that influence depends on a human element, and Beijing remains anxious about both the mobility of its people into and through Latin America and the expertise needed to navigate the region. These are the dimensions it finds hardest to manage, and where the US holds advantages that are real but perishable. Converting them into leverage requires deliberate policy, not coercion.

Key Takeaways

• "China" in Latin America is not a single actor but an ensemble of party-state organs, policy banks, state-owned and private firms, and migrants whose motives collide. Beijing profits from activity it does not direct, but it cannot discipline the actors who carry it out. That gap between influence and control is its most exposed flank.
• The Chinese government's enduring anxieties in the region are its citizens' mobility, which it cannot manage, and its expertise in the region, which has not grown fast enough to outpace its growing presence.
• Many Latin American countries waive their own visa requirements for Chinese citizens who hold a long-term US visa, making it a de facto trust credential. This informal system gives the US a hidden but powerful form of leverage and visibility into Chinese mobility. By formalizing this system, Washington would retain this advantage, currently at risk of being eroded by the rise of direct China-Latin America waivers.
• US attempts to counter Chinese influence in the region through coercion misread Beijing's effects on regional interests, particularly among governments and elites who benefit. The US competes more effectively by being present, useful, and better informed: engaging with China in talks about Latin America and investing in local, independent study of China's influence.
• The window for action is narrowing as three trends-the spread of Brazil's visa waiver to other nations, the temporary nature of US-China stability, and China's growing regional expertise-create a potential advantage for Beijing that may soon become insurmountable.

Cite this essay:

Jian Ren, "China's Anxieties in Latin America: What Mobility and Knowledge Mean for US Strategy," Hoover History Lab Policy Brief no. 2603, Hoover Institution, September 2026.