Since Bolsonaro came to power, Brazil's international negotiating position has been incredibly weak: other countries can easily play off the government's warring factions against each other. Example: one faction attacks China, the other calls Beijing to apologize. [thread]

When Bolsonaro called Xi Jinping to as for forgiveness for his son's comment, China accepted the apology, but certainly used the phone call to ask for a favor or two -- a confirmation that Huawei will build Brazil's 5G network, or a few privileges for other Chinese companies.

In such a moment of weakness, can Bolsonaro say no? Of course not. The anti-China rhetoric by Eduardo Bolsonaro and Weintraub, which China's diplomats happily respond to, thus escalating the situation -- is thus a wonderful moment for China to advance its interests with Brazil.

While you usually try to 'divide and conquer' when negotiating with another country (e.g., playing off governors against each other who want to attract an investment), negotiating with Brazil is easy: it is already divided.