Secretary of State Marco Rubio laid down the law in Panama over the weekend, making expressly clear to President José Mulino that the Trump administration will not tolerate the influence of the Chinese communist regime over the Panama Canal as it now stands.
It appears the Panamanian leader heeded the American’s warning.
Within hours of their meeting, Mulino
announced that Panama will not be renewing its memorandum of understanding with China concerning its Belt and Road Initiative.
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce
indicated in a statement Sunday that Rubio impressed upon Mulino and Panama’s foreign minister, Javier Martínez-Acha, “that President Trump has made a preliminary determination that the current position of influence and control of the Chinese Communist Party over the Panama Canal area is a threat to the canal and represents a violation of the Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama Canal.”
‘Absent immediate changes, it would require the United States to take measures necessary to protect its rights.’
According to the Panama Canal Treaty and Neutrality Treaty signed in 1977 by former President Jimmy Carter and Panama’s then-chief of government, Omar Torrijos, the canal “shall be permanently neutral” and in time of both peace and war “shall remain secure and open to peaceful transit by the vessels of all nations on terms of entire equality.”
Rubio reportedly told the Panamanian leaders that the current level of Chinese influence over the canal was “unacceptable and that absent immediate changes, it would require the United States to take measures necessary to protect its rights under the Treaty.”
Evidently keen to avoid consequences — which Rubio apparently did not spell out in detail — Mulino
announced that he will not only let Panama’s Belt and Road Initiative partnership expire but will look into the possibility of terminating it early, as it was not set to be renewed for at least another year.
Mulino also expressed a willingness to review a number of Chinese businesses in Panama, including the 25-year concession to the Chinese company that operates ports at both ends of the canal, reported Reuters.
Mulino’s announcement “that Panama will allow its participation in the CCP’s Belt and Road Initiative to expire is a great step forward for U.S.-Panama relations, a free Panama Canal, and another example of @POTUS leadership to protect our national security and deliver prosperity for the American people,” Rubio stated Monday.
Through its BRI, the Chinese Communist Party helps poorer nations build ports, rail lines, and telecommunications networks, as well as secure financing. Since this assistance is usually unaffordable by design, the BRI effectively transforms countries into vassal states.
The State Department
noted during the first Trump administration that the Belt and Road Initiative “preys on other countries via unsustainable and corrupt lending while ignoring global labor and environmental standards.” The department stated further that the Chinese military utilizes BRI to establish a presence in partner nations and to “challenge the United States globally.”
Panama was the first country in Latin America to partner with China on the BRI, signing a
memorandum of understanding to that effect in 2017.
Since 2017, China’s influence in Panama has
grown considerably, raising concerns stateside that America’s ability to transit the canal it built in the early 20th century for a price tag of $375 million and thousands of lives could soon be strategically hindered.
‘We gave the Panama Canal to Panama. We didn’t give it to China.’
A Congressional Research Service report updated on Dec. 17, 2024,
noted that some U.S. military leaders are concerned that Beijing-linked companies along the canal “may present a security vulnerability for the United States.” China presently controls ports at both ends of the canal through Hutchinson Ports PPC, a Hong Kong-based company closely linked to the regime in Beijing.
Trump
said on Truth Social in December that the canal and its independence from communist Chinese interference were “crucial for U.S. commerce, and rapid deployment of the Navy, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and drastically cuts shipping times to U.S. ports.”
Weeks ahead of taking office, Trump
stated at a press conference that the “Panama Canal is vital to our country. It’s being operated by China. China. And we gave the Panama Canal to Panama. We didn’t give it to China, and they’ve abused it. They’ve abused that gift. It should have never been made, by the way. Giving the Panama Canal is why Jimmy Carter lost the election, in my opinion.”
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Panama, Panama canal, Marco rubio, State department, Foreign policy, China, Communist china, Diplomay, One belt one road, Bri, Belt road initiative, Politics
