; and (B) by developing tracking systems that can be used by governments to surveil and monitor their citizens. (8) Although China did not originally include the Latin America and Caribbean region in its Belt and Road Initiative— (A) at a meeting with the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States in January 2018, China invited Latin America and the Caribbean to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative, referring to the region as a natural fit for a program that aims to improve connectivity between land and sea through jointly built logistic, electricity and information pathways; and (B) Nineteen Latin American and Caribbean countries have signed bilateral Belt and Road Cooperation Agreements since 2017. (9) The People’s Republic of China offers to finance projects in Latin America and the Caribbean on deceptively easy terms that frequently lead recipient countries to become dependent on, and deeply indebted to, China. Chinese companies frequently engage in exploitative practices, including predatory lending, and project requirements that— (A) provide little or no benefit to the host country; and (B) facilitate corrupt practices. (10) The Government of China expects that Chinese companies will invest the equivalent of $250,000,000,000 in Latin America and the Caribbean by 2025. (11) Since 2017, China has used its increasing economic influence in Latin America and the Caribbean to encourage countries, including El Salvador, Panama, and the Dominican Republic, to sever diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Of the 15 countries that still maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan, 9 are in Latin America and the Caribbean, namely: Belize, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. 3. Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that— (1) the United States shares extensive economic and commercial relations, democratic values, cultural ties, and geographic proximity with the nations of the Western Hemisphere