Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de
Kirchner mimicked the Chinese accent in a tweet, replacing r’s
with l’s, as she met with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a
visit to raise investment in the recession-hit South American
economy.
“Did they only come for lice and petloleum?” Fernandez
wrote in Spanish on her Twitter account in reference to 1,000
businessmen who attended a conference where she spoke. A minute
later, she wrote “sorry, the levels of ridiculousness and
absurdity are so high they can only be digested with humor.”
Her tweet about what attracted her audience was a response
to criticism that she packs events with her supporters. Earlier,
she had signed 15 agreements with Xi on issues ranging from
nuclear energy to agriculture as part of her four-day state
visit to the world’s second-largest economy.
Argentina is relying on loans from China to bolster a
currency that slumped 23 percent against the dollar last year
amid the country’s second default in 13 years. The central bank
has tapped about $3 billion of an $11 billion currency swap
agreement with the Asian giant.
Argentina is also depending on
China to finance hydroelectric dams, while China’s Sinopec is
analyzing an investment with state-run YPF SA to develop shale
gas and oil in the vast Vaca Muerta fields.
Presidential spokesman Alfredo Scoccimarro didn’t answer
his mobile phone or return an e-mail seeking comment on the
tweets. The presidential palace’s official Twitter account,
@CasaRosadaAR, retweeted Fernandez’s comment about it being a
joke without sending the tweet on the Chinese accent.
China Trade
Fernandez’s message on Twitter to 3.52 million followers
was retweeted more than 1,800 times.
The social media message won’t derail trade or diplomatic
relations, according to Ernesto Fernandez Taboada, executive
director at the Argentine China Chamber of Commerce in Buenos
Aires.
“We provide classes to businessmen on how to do business
in China and advise that they don’t make jokes during meetings
since the Chinese may not understand the jokes or translation
may alter the meaning,” Taboada said by telephone. “I don’t
believe the Chinese are reading our president’s tweets all
day.”
A person at the Chinese Embassy in Buenos Aires who
declined to provide their name said no one was available to
comment. An e-mail send to the embassy’s press office wasn’t
immediately returned.
China is Argentina’s biggest trade partner after Brazil,
with $17.5 billion of commerce in 2013. The country is the
largest market for Argentina’s agricultural exports including
soybeans.
Investment Deals
China in July agreed to provide financing of $4.7 billion
for two hydroelectric dams in the south of Argentina, of which
$287 million will be disbursed shortly.
Central bank reserves, which are used to pay debt and
finance imports, have risen 11 percent to $31.2 billion since
the monetary authority received the first transfer of yuan as
part of the currency swap on Oct. 30.
Fernandez, who assumed the presidency in place of her
husband Nestor Kirchner in 2007, will step down in December and
isn’t able to run for a third term.
After a tumultuous economic year in 2014 with a
devaluation, default and recession, Argentina’s economy is
forecast to contract again this year, according to the median
estimate of 22 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
asoliani@bloomberg.net
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