Setback to China: After India, Brazil becomes second BRICS country to reject BRI

Brazil recently decided against joining China’s multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This marks a major setback to China’s BRI after India’s refusal to endorse the mega project. With this development, Lula da Silva-headed country becomes the second country after India in the BRICS bloc to deny support.
According to special presidential adviser for international affairs Celso Amorim, Brazil will look for alternative ways to collaborate with Chinese investors, reported PTI. Brazil wants to “take the relationship with China to a new level, without having to sign an accession contract”, Brazilian newspaper O Globo quoted Celso Amorim as saying on Monday.
Elaborating that Brazil does not want to take Chinese infrastructure and trade projects as “an insurance policy,” the Brazilian official decreed, “We are not entering into a treaty,” reported PTI.
Celso Amorim mentioned that the goal is to use some of the Belt and Road framework to create “synergy” between Brazilian infrastructure projects and the investment funds linked to the initiative. This is intended to be achieved without formally joining the group, South China Morning Post reported.
Clarifying the reason of refusal to join BRI, Celso Amorim asserted that there are projects that Brazil has defined as a priority and that may or may not be accepted by China. The decision comes before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s scheduled November 20 state visit to Brasilia.
According to the South China Morning Post report, officials from Brazil’s economy and foreign affairs ministries opposed the idea. Brazil alleged that its participation in the flagship infrastructure project would complicate relations with the potential Donald Trump administration in the US. It further noted that in the short run, the project would not bring any tangible benefits to the country.
BRICS, the intergovernmental organisation, originally comprised Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Later, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates were admitted as member states.