Asian leaders sensing opportunity in LatAm

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LIMA, Nov 19 (AFP): Asian leaders are sensing an opportunity to win a bigger share of Latin America's natural resources as they converge on this year's Asia-Pacific summit in Peru.
Chinese President Hu Jintao made landmark visits to Costa Rica and Cuba ahead of the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum opening Saturday in Lima.
China has been actively seeking oil, gas, minerals and other natural resources from around the world to power its economy, which is still expanding rapidly despite the global economic crisis.
In an interview with Peru's El Comercio newspaper, Hu also hailed what he said was growing support in Latin America for China's positions on Taiwan and Tibet.
Hu agreed to launch free trade talks and signed a string of cooperation deals with Costa Rica, which just a year earlier dropped its recognition of Taiwan, an island claimed by Beijing.
The Chinese leader, making use of the week in between APEC and last weekend's Group of Twenty (G20) Washington summit on the financial turmoil, also donated 4.5 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Cuba which was battered by three hurricanes this year.
"China and other Asian countries are getting more and more serious about boosting their ties with Latin America," said Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a professor of international politics at Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo. "In terms of international politics, particularly in the field of energy diplomacy, Latin America cannot be ignored by anyone," Yamamoto said.
South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak was making an official visit to Brazil on his way to Lima to hold talks with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Lee and Lula are expected to confirm their cooperation in boosting trade and investment in the field of natural resources, infrastructure and agriculture.
In Mexico, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono held talks with his counterpart Felipe Calderon Monday and agreed on cooperation between their state-run oil companies as well as in education.