As a Chinese proverb goes, "Just as distance tests a horse's strength, time will show a person's sincerity." The growth of Chinese-Latin American and Caribbean relations has proved and will continue to prove that ours is an open, inclusive, mutually beneficial and cooperative relationship.
-- Speech given by Xi Jinping before the Mexican Senate, June 5, 2013
Just as Distance Tests a Horse's Strength,
Time Will Show a Person's Sincerity
-- Strengthening cooperation and mutual trust with Latin American and Caribbean countries
According to an ancient Chinese adage, "Just as distance tests a horse's strength, time will show a person's sincerity." This proverb was taken from the first act of The Struggles to Repay Kindness, a play written by an anonymous author during the Yuan Dynasty (1206-1368). It reads, "Sister, I wish you a long life filled with honor and fortune. Should I ever be in a position to repay your kindness, I shall certainly do so, then as they say, just as distance tests a horse's strength, time will show a person's sincerity." Simple and straightforward, this adage suggests that in order to determine the strengths and weaknesses of a horse, one must test it on a long journey. In order to determine the virtues and vices of a person, one must spend extended time together.
Xi Jinping used the above quotation to describe the open, inclusive, mutually beneficial, and cooperative relations that exist between China and Latin American and Caribbean countries. The longer both sides promote mutual trust, strengthen communication, and seek common development, the more confidence we will have in one another.
Latin America is the farthest continent from China. Yet Che Guevara's portrait can often be seen emblazoned on the T-shirts of Chinese youths. Leaders such as Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez have become heroes in the eyes of many Chinese for galvanizing anti-American sentiment in Latin America. Soccer legends such as Pelé and Diego Maradona have fascinated generations of Chinese fans. Delve a little deeper, however, one finds that Chinese people do not know enough about Latin America and Caribbean, and exchanges and communication between ordinary people have been especially lacking.
During the Cold War in the 1960s, the United States regarded Latin American and Caribbean countries as its own "backyard," and left a heavy footprint on them. Consequently, those countries were late to establish diplomatic relations with the PRC. It was only after Henry Kissinger made his secret trip to Beijing and China restored its lawful seat in the United Nations that countries in Latin America and Caribbean started lining up to establish diplomatic relations with China. Nevertheless, many of these countries that wanted to develop official ties with China still needed to consider the attitude of the United States. As long as the United States maintained a relaxed attitude, those countries accelerated the pace of establishing diplomatic relations with China. So far, China has established diplomatic ties with 21 countries in Latin America and Caribbean. For historical reasons, Latin America and Caribbean account for almost half of over twenty countries that still maintain "diplomatic relations" with the Taiwan region. Today, Latin American and Caribbean countries and China frequently engage in high-level exchanges, and economic and trade ties have developed rapidly. In 1979, trade volume between China and Latin America and Caribbean amounted to merely one billion USD. In 2007, trade volume surpassed its record high of 100 billion USD, and China became the third largest trading partner of Latin America and Caribbean. In 2012, bilateral trade between China and Latin America and Caribbean grew to set a new high of 261.2 billion USD against a sluggish global economy.
Countries in Latin America and Caribbean are generally smaller and less populated, with a more modest presence on the international stage. Having long faced pressure from the United States, they want economic development but they also yearn for independence and autonomy. Xi Jinping quoted the adage mentioned above in order to outline the state of relations between China and Latin American and Caribbean countries, with an eye not simply fixed on the present but on long-range strategic considerations. Rather than proposing a cooperative development model based solely on economic and trade cooperation, we put forward a comprehensive, multilayered model that included everything from the economy and culture to health and sports. These are the areas that most concern people in Latin America and Caribbean.
Countries in Latin America and Caribbean are part of the same developing world as China. Through multilevel exchanges and communication, Latin America and Caribbean and China can build mechanisms that promote mutual assistance and mutual trust, so that people from both regions have the opportunity to improve their lives. This is the essence of the adage "just as distance tests a horse's strength, time will show a person's sincerity."
(An excerpt from XI JINPING: WIT AND VISION SELECTED QUOTATIONS AND COMMENTARY, published by FOREIGN LANGUAGES PRESS in 2015)
