https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/na...china-exerting-growing-power-america-n1278464 NATIONAL SECURITY A project in El Salvador shows how China is exerting growing power in America's backyard China is making its influence felt in Latin America and the Caribbean in a way officials say is harmful to the U.S. and via methods the U.S. can't employ. A staff member adjusts an American flag before a U.S. and China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Washington in 2013.Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images file SHARE THIS — Sept. 4, 2021, 4:30 AM EDT By Ken Dilanian, Joel Seidman and Gabriel Sanchez WASHINGTON — Two years ago, the U.S. government began loudly questioning a Chinese push to purchase an island off El Salvador's coast, where a Chinese company was proposing to build a deep water port and manufacturing zone. The American objections seemed to have had an impact, as a political backlash in El Salvadorstalled the project. But the Chinese were not deterred. After what U.S. officials publicly asserted was a successful Chinese effort to bribe El Salvadoran politicians, the project is now moving forward. NBC News has obtained a power point presentation by a state-owned Chinese firm called "Shared Opportunities, Shared Future," that sketches out one version of the proposal. American intelligence and military officials say the port project would give China a significant economic and strategic foothold in what has traditionally been an American sphere of influence. It is one of many examples of how China is making its power and influence felt across Latin America and the Caribbean in a way that officials say is harmful to U.S. interests, and via methods that the U.S. cannot employ. "Chinese influence is global, and it is everywhere in this hemisphere, and moving forward in alarming ways," said Adm. Craig Faller, the head of U.S. Southern Command, in an exclusive interview with NBC News. "China is pursuing multiple portals in this hemisphere," he continued, referring to seaports, airports and other transit hubs. "Depending on the day, count them as 40 or so. And as I look at where they're focused strategically — West Coast, East Coast, South Panama, Caribbean — I absolutely can see a future where these ports will become a hub for their growing blue water Navy that far exceeds their…need for homeland defense." But it's not only the military implications that concern American officials. Faller said China is rapidly advancing toward a goal of economic dominance in Central and South America within the next decade. In 2019, he said, the PRC surpassed the U.S. as the leading trade partner with Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay and is now the region's second-largest trading partner behind the U.S. More in the link... too difficult to paste on this forum.