President-elect Donald Trump released a string of Christmas-day messages in which he criticized China’s influence and activities in the Panama canal.
“Merry Christmas to all, including to the wonderful soldiers of China, who are lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama Canal,” said President Trump.
Trump’s comments follow earlier statements he made alluding to the US potentially purchasing the Panama canal.
China has been steadily increasing its political, economic, and military presence in the Americas. In 2017, the Chinese Communist Party (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 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.
“The PRC is playing the “long game” with its development of dual-use sites and facilities throughout the region,” said Richardson, explaining how “in Panama, (Chinese) State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) continue to bid on projects related to the Panama Canal.”
Moreover, China’s military influence in Panama has grown in recent years as the Chinese and Panamanian military and security forces have increasingly cooperated. “It is imperative that we view (China’s) economic activities, particularly in the Americas, as connected to their global political and military desires,” expounded Richardson.
