Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva cast China in a harsh light on Friday, assigning blame to Beijing, along with American and European companies, for practices that have allowed the country to pull off rapid technological advances.
Discussing Brazil’s international relations in a radio interview, Lula said China has become a technological powerhouse by “copying everything” produced by foreign companies in the 1980s and improving upon Western products, thereby “giving a lesson to capitalism”.
He also chided European and American companies for moving their operations to China to exploit what he described as the “slave labour of a country with a very harsh political regime”.
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The Brazilian president’s comments come as his country prepares to host the Brics summit in Rio de Janeiro this July, and steps up coordination with Beijing following a series of tariff actions taken by US President Donald Trump. Lula criticised the US leader directly and hinted that he might respond with a World Trade Organization complaint.
The remarks also follow the stunning success of China’s home-grown AI development firm DeepSeek, which has shaken up the global tech and investment landscape.
“What did the Chinese do? They copied. Yes, they copied. Unlike us in Brazil, who respect patent laws, they copied everything. They copied, improved, and sent many people abroad to study,” Lula remarked.
He continued: “What happened? China now has more technological capability than other countries. In other words, capitalism tried to exploit an almost slave-like workforce, and the Chinese turned the tables. They learned more than the others and now teach the world many things.”
Criticism from the leader of Latin America’s largest economy also targeted Trump, with whom Lula said he has “no relationship”. While expressing hopes to maintain relations with Washington, Lula also lamented what he called a “decline in the US’ commitment to defending democracy”.
“I do not comment on Trump’s actions. I think he can say whatever he wants - he is the President of the United States. But he cannot do whatever he wants because if he takes actions that result in [negative] consequences for other countries, there will always be a reaction,” he stated.
The Brazilian president argued that while America once positioned itself as the “patron of democracy in the world”, this narrative now appears to be shifting, with democracy no longer holding the same value in US discourse.
Lula warned that he would take Washington to the WTO if Trump follows through on his recent decision to impose tariffs on steel, and pledged to retaliate against the US move with proportional tariffs.
“They used to defend free markets, and now they are defending protectionism … If they take action against Brazil, there will be reciprocity. No doubt about it,” Lula vowed.
This week, Brasilia sent the executive secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Laura da Rocha, to Beijing. Considered Brazil’s second-highest-ranking diplomat, Rocha travelled to China at the invitation of executive vice foreign minister Ma Zhaoxu for “strategic consultations”.
Ma oversees US-China relations and was part of the Chinese delegation that attended Trump’s inauguration in January.
The two-day visit included discussions on a joint strategy to challenge US-imposed tariffs, among other topics, according to a government official familiar with the matter. .
Brazilian newspaper O Globo also reported that Rocha met with several key Chinese officials, including vice-minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs for Latin America Miao Deyu, and former foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.
The newspaper stated that the two sides resumed discussions on a peace proposal for the war in Ukraine, presented by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Lula’s special adviser, Celso Amorim in May.
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Copyright (c) 2025. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.