Human Rights and
International Democratic Solidarity

MEMBERS

Juan Pablo Cardenal
Juan Pablo Cardenal
Synic Analysis Editor
Writer, journalist. Foreign correspondent in China for various Spanish newspapers between 2003 and 2014, focusing on China’s international expansion since 2009. Since then, he has done research on the consequences of China’s investments, infrastructure and loans in 40 different countries from 4 continents. The research resulted in books he co-authored, among them “La silenciosa conquista China” (2011) and “La imparable conquista de China” (2015), which were translated to 12 languages. Since 2016, he has directed research projects oriented to understanding China’s soft power and Beijing’s strategy to achieve political influence in Latin America. He has been a speaker in various international conferences and has published articles in El País, El Mundo, Clarín, The New York Times, Project Syndicate and the South China Morning Post. His last book is “La telaraña” (2020), on the internacional thread of political crisis in Catalunia.
Juan Pablo Cardenal's publications
Articles | Artículos | Informes | Libros | Research Reports

See Juan Pablo Cardenal's publications in collaboration with other authors

21-10-2024 | Articles
Chancay is the first deepwater port in Latin America over which Cosco will have full operational control. As with other Chinese state-owned giants, the shipping company is under the long shadow of the Chinese government.

02-10-2024 | Articles
China has taken our measure and few governments dare to risk their commercial relationship with the giant. Milei is not the only president who has had to swallow his diatribes against the Chinese government, which in a way calls into question their timeliness.

27-05-2024 | Articles
Being forced to leave behind –at the age of 27, perhaps forever– her country, family and dreams seems a heavy price to pay. What sparked the authorities’ fury against Rei was her participation, in late 2022, in a silent protest in Shanghai against the Covid restrictions, in which attendees displayed blank sheets of paper. Such conduct is not a criminal offence in the free world, but it can change the course of a life in China. Talking is forbidden. So is silence.

20-03-2024 | Articles
The promulgation of the National Security Law that develops, according to Article 23 of the Basic Law (the so-called mini-Constitution of the island), the crimes of treason, secession, sedition, or subversion against the central government, among others, somehow culminates the involution of a Hong Kong finally brought back to the discipline of the Chinese Communist Party.

29-11-2023 | Articles
Milei has the opportunity to demonstrate, in terms of his China policy, that defending Argentine interests and, at the same time, principles, should be compatible objectives.

10-04-2021 | Articles
In a context of a general lack of knowledge about China in Latin America, it is not only that there is no such thing as a Chinese-style democracy; it is that it is a mistake to believe that the Chinese model is better just because it may be more effective. Democratic systems are neither infallible nor perfect because they’re based on freedom, checks and balances, rule of law, participation, transparency and human rights. And China's effectiveness stems precisely from the absence of all these attributes.

13-12-2016 | Articles
The perception that China rewards loyalty is wrong. Not only is it doubtful that kowtowing to China will bring short-term benefits but, on the contrary, it is rather quite possible that we’ll end up paying a high price for such policy in the future. If today’s decisions are shaping our future, then granting China with market economy status will surely be a nail in the coffin for Argentina.


[1]