China’s global influence has grown more sophisticated, extending beyond mega infrastructure projects. It now advances subtly through less public channels: universities. This strategy is evident in Peru, where academic-technological projects promoted at the National University of San Marcos (UNMSM), in collaboration with Chinese entities, are taking shape. In April, UNMSM authorities began construction of the first technological development hub near the Port of Chancay, a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative and a burgeoning Chinese logistics hub in South America.
In June, UNMSM also hosted a meeting between Peru’s technical education sector and representatives from 14 Chinese professional education centers. Promoted as an opportunity for bilateral cooperation, the event reinforces Beijing’s expanding educational ecosystem within Peru’s national education system, UNMSM stated.
“In recent years, we have seen a widespread shift in China’s use of purely soft power strategies toward more substantial technical commitments,” Henry Ziemer, a researcher with the Americas Program at U.S.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Diálogo. “Academic cooperation tends to raise fewer alarms, making it an attractive tool for strengthening China’s influence without going unnoticed.”
The new technology hub promoted by China in Chancay raises questions about academic sovereignty and the risk of covert strategic transfer. This is not isolated speculation. In April, Chile temporarily suspended the installation of an astronomical observatory in Cerro Ventarrones, financed by the National Observatory of China, amid warnings about possible dual uses for satellite tracking, Chilean news agency EX-Ante reported. The message was clear: Even university agreements can camouflage geopolitical objectives.
However, in May, Chile took another step toward consolidating China’s soft power in education by becoming the headquarters of the first regional center for Mandarin Chinese teacher education and certification for Latin America. Signed by Santo Tomás University with the Center for Cooperation in Language and Education of the Chinese Ministry of Education, East China Normal University, and Anhui University, this project expands the CCP’s ability to set its own curriculum standards in Latin American education systems, media outlet G5 Noticias reported.
“It’s difficult to determine the degree of cooperation within China. However, the history of China’s interaction with Latin America suggests that Beijing rarely considers projects in isolation,” Ziemer said. “China tends to take a layered approach, where individual projects feed into a broader strategy of influence that transcends economic, security, and cultural considerations.”
Concern is growing given this repeated pattern in other countries in the region and China’s May announcement during the fourth ministerial meeting of the China-Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Forum in Beijing. The forum detailed more educational exchange programs, technical training, and the expansion and integration of Confucius Institutes into regional education systems, Argentine news site Infobae reported.
As a result of the Forum, Brazil signed new investment agreements with China to research semiconductors, 5G, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and smart photovoltaic energy.
“As Beijing’s political and economic diplomacy develops in Latin America and the Caribbean, so does its cultural diplomacy, as an expression of Chinese soft power,” said Peruvian Army Brigadier General Paul Vera Delzo in an article published in April by the Peruvian Army’s Center for Strategic Studies. “In Latin America, there are already 41 university campuses where Mandarin is taught, summer camps in China and cultural events are funded, and scholarships are awarded to study in China.”
In the case of Peru, Chancay is not an isolated hub but part of a planned expansion. “It’s very likely that the port was never conceived solely as commercial infrastructure, but as a point of entry for greater collaboration between Peru and China,” Ziemer said. “In addition to this new educational alliance, the CCP will seek to advance in the area of security, for example, by supplying cameras or facial recognition technology to combat organized crime in the port and its surroundings.”
Presented as an initiative to promote research and technological innovation in Peru, the technological development hub promoted by China at UNMSM covers areas of high strategic sensitivity. Its focus includes not only the co-production of smart electronic inputs and systems but also sectors such as telecommunications, nuclear energy, robotics, and biomedical technology, Peruvian daily La República reported. The project crosses boundaries between the civil, industrial, and potentially military spheres.
The question is no longer whether China wants to have an educational presence in Latin America, but rather for what strategic purpose. Against this backdrop, Ziemer proposes clear measures: transparency in agreements, review of agreements in sensitive sectors, and legal mechanisms to protect the investigative sovereignty of countries. “It’s not about closing the doors to China, but about opening our eyes wide,” he concluded.
