The Chinese embassy in Buenos Aires rejected comments from Peter Lamelas, Trump’s nominee for United States ambassador to Argentina, about the Asian giant’s role in Argentina. Peronist leaders also lambasted the prospective envoy, while their deputies filed a bill to declare him persona non grata. 

“The declarations of a relevant U.S. personality are plagued with ideological prejudice and Cold War mentality, based on a zero-sum game that does little more than provoke a sensation of concern about the possible return of the Monroe Doctrine,” the Chinese embassy’s spokesperson wrote in a public statement.

The statement, which does not name Lamelas, comes a day after he attended a hearing about his diplomatic appointment to Argentina in the U.S. Senate. 

At that hearing, Lamelas said that Argentina’s provincial governments “could negotiate with external forces, like the Chinese or others, to come in and do projects in that particular province, and that may also lend towards corruption on the part of the Chinese.” He promised to travel the country, meeting with provincial governors, as well as building relationships with the national government.

The embassy spokesperson said that China has projects and cooperation with Latin American countries “always based on the principles of mutual respect, equal treatment, mutual benefit, and shared profit, without seeking spheres of influence or geopolitical interest or targeting third parties.”

Lamelas also vowed to support judicial proceedings over the AMIA bombing and ensure that former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who is currently serving a six-year jail sentence under house arrest, “receives the justice that she well deserves.”

Peronism’s response to Lamela’s words 

Lamelas’ comments drew the ire of Buenos Aires Province Governor Axel Kicillof. “GO HOME LAMELAS,” he wrote on X. He said that a diplomatic envoy could not behave “as if they were the tutor of the sovereign policies of the country that receives them.” Kicillof went on to say that the remarks “evoke the darkest eras of U.S. interference in the democratic life of our region.”

“I can tell you this: don’t even bother coming to [BA provincial capital] La Plata; nobody will receive you here.”

On Wednesday afternoon, deputies from the main Peronist party, Unión por la Patria (UxP), filed a bill to declare Lamelas persona non grata. “His deplorable and unacceptable statements constitute a flagrant violation of Argentine sovereignty,” the party wrote. 

Kirchner also responded via X. “How obsessed are you, bro… As if our judicial power wasn’t remote controlled enough already, they’re sending us a new plenipotentiary PROSECUTOR straight from Mar-a-Lago.”

While the Senate hearing with Lamelas was held on Tuesday, senators will vote on his appointment at a later date.