Milei’s meeting with Xi signals he’s come full circle on China

President Javier Milei is preparing for his first sit-down with Xi Jinping, despite once scoffing that he’d never cut deals with communists.

The meeting with the Chinese president, which Milei’s spokesman said Saturday would take place on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit, shows how far the libertarian economist has come in his thinking since his election victory a year ago.

Describing his likely foreign policy in an interview after his upset win in an August 2023 primary, Milei minced no words on China: “Would you trade with an assassin?”

But the Asian giant is a major buyer of Argentine commodities and a key source of financing for the crisis-prone South American nation, so Milei gradually changed his tune after taking office in December. He exchanged letters with Xi and talk arose in June of an official visit to Beijing, though firm plans have yet to materialise. 

Milei, however, is also cozying up to Donald Trump, who has threatened to put tariffs of as much as 60 percent on Chinese goods. The libertarian travelled to the US this week to congratulate the president-elect in person at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Milei is hoping Trump’s presidency can help smooth negotiations between Argentina and the International Monetary Fund over its US$44-billion programme. 

So when Milei meets with Xi next week in Rio de Janeiro, he’s also likely to be thinking of his potential benefactor in Washington as he negotiates with the communist leader of China.