That some people in Washington still see China-US relations as a zero-sum game is surprising, to say the least.

At a talk on Chinese direct investment in Latin America held at the Atlantic Council on Monday, Brazilian Ambassador to the United States Sergio Amaral spoke very highly about China's fast-growing trade with Latin America and investment in the region. Chinese investment, Amaral said in his keynote speech, has diversified rapidly into infrastructure and service sectors. A report released the same day said the same thing.

I have interviewed Amaral both in the US and Brazil. As a former chairman of Brazil-China Business Council, he is well versed in Sino-Latin American relations. No wonder his views were corroborated at the talk by Gerardo Mato, chairman of HSBC Global Banking and Markets for the Americas, and Angel Melguizo, head of the Latin American and Caribbean Unit of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Both praised China-Latin America relations.