Venezuelan President and modern-day Guevara/leftist fruitcake (depending on your point of view) Hugo Chavez will be coming to China next week for what promises to be an intriguing interaction between two very different strands of socialism.  Chavez has already kicked off his by-now familiar "dip-stick-plomacy" routine, promising to ride into town on a wave of cheapo oil.  Venezuela announced yesterday that it will increase oil exports to China by 1/3 before the end of the year. 

The most interesting aspect of this trip will be seeing how close Chavez will try to the Chinese leadership, and how close actually they want to get to him.  Chavez has been busy this past year building some kind of ‘Chavismo’ alliance with several world leaders, forging close ties with such fellow "men of the people" as his precursor Fidel Castro and his ‘brother’ Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  It is as yet unclear whether he intends to get equally pally-wally with Hu Jintao or Wen Jiabao, or even whether he will be allowed.

Of course, China has blatantly obvious strategic reasons for deepening their connections with Chavez and the Latin American alliance of which he is a figurehead. But they will also be aware that such is Chavez’s political vision that he tends not to forge mere business partnerships, but rather diplomatic alliances laden down with anti-US antagonist baggage.   Nor does Chavez like to be the minor partner in any relationship, a situation that may not be so conducive to the development of deeper Sino-Venezuelan ties.