Panama President José Raúl Mulino has promised to not renew Panama’s contract with China’s Belt and Road initiative and grant US warships free passage through the canal after meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The announcement comes after President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened to forcefully retake the Panama canal unless Panama terminate Chinese influence and control over the canal.
The Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama Canal, signed in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter, guaranteed the neutrality of the Panama Canal and transferred control of it to Panama by the year 2000.
President Trump and Secretary Rubio have alleged the treaty was violated by Panama’s granting companies controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) outsized control over the Panama canal.
“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,” reads a State Department press release.
As such, Rubio underscored the importance of ensuring Panama fulfill the terms of the treaty.
“The Panama Canal is vital to America’s national and economic security interests,” said Rubio. “We must remain vigilant in protecting this vital asset from the Chinese Communist Party.”
China has been steadily increasing its political, economic, and military presence in the Americas.
In 2017, the CCP (CCP) established official relations with Panama in a symbolic victory for the CCP given central American countries have generally supported Taiwan over China.
Since then, China has expanded its ties with Panama – who became the first nation to join its Belt and Road initiative – and become one of the leaders in conducting trade via the Panama canal.
US Military experts have claimed China’s expansion in Panama and the broader Latin-American region should be alarming.
Southern Command Commander General Laura J. Richardson expressed as much in a statement to the US House of Representatives’ Armed Services Committee last March.
“The PRC is exploiting a fragile security environment and taking advantage of the region’s need for economic investment to gain influence and advance its malign agenda,” explained Commander Richardson.
Richardson added that the CCP is surreptitiously gaining control of the Panama canal by securing development projects in the canal via state-controlled Chinese companies.
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