Anonymous ID: 815060 Jan. 24, 2021, 10:39 a.m. No.12697550   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>7561 >>7569 >>7588 >>7671 >>7697

The Panama Canal Could Become the Center of the U.S.-China Trade War

Following outgoing president Juan Carlos Varela’s unexpected decision to end diplomatic relations with Taiwan in order to establish formal ties with Beijing in June 2017, a tidal wave of Chinese investment is in the works. Major infrastructure projects and an imminent free trade agreement will allow Panama, a country of 4 million people, to maximize its potential as a hub for regional trade, manufacturing, and logistics and ease the strain on a financial services industry damaged by the Panama Papers. In return, for a relatively modest outlay, China is poised to become the most important commercial partner in a country that controls a key chokepoint of world trade.

 

It’s a win-win, both sides like to stress. But if tensions between the United States and China continue to escalate, Panama could become a key theater in their trade war.

 

For the seven presidential candidates in the recent election—all but one of whom were center-right, pro-business free-traders—Chinese cash is required to reinvigorate a stalled economy. The geopolitical effects and the long-term effect on sovereignty? Those are problems for future presidents. Cortizo, speaking to Reuters on Election Day, said the United States needed to pay more attention to Central America, saying, “While they’re not paying attention, another one is making advances.”

 

And that, said Carlos Guevara Mann, an associate professor in political science at Florida State University’s Panama campus, has “put Panama in the midst of the world’s biggest geopolitical rivalry: the trade war between the U.S. and China. No one has a plan.”

 

But Panama, given the United States’ history in the country and the unique importance of the interoceanic canal, could be where the two powers collide.

 

Recently, China has deepened ties with governments across Latin America and the Caribbean, 19 of which have officially signed up for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature $1 trillion Belt and Road infrastructure plan. It has encountered little pushback or competition from the United States. But Panama, given the United States’ history in the country and the unique importance of the interoceanic canal, could be where the two powers collide.

 

“The Panama Canal was the great work of the industrial age, as symbolic to the U.S. as the Great Wall is to China,” said Richard Koster, a novelist and historian who has been an analyst of Panamanian politics since he first set foot on the isthmus as a Marine in 1957. “The Chinese plan to develop a permanent presence in Panama.”

 

>https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/05/07/the-panama-canal-could-become-the-center-of-the-u-s-china-trade-war/

>>12697301

>>12697432

The facts are China controls access via the tug boats, they could shut it down if they wanted too.

Anonymous ID: 815060 Jan. 24, 2021, 10:48 a.m. No.12697646   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>7661

>>12697599

Strategically would be easier to blow up a tug or container ship in a lock and it would shut it down for awhile. It is too close to US so we could pope off ships from mainland. I think they would be more likely to hang out around Cape Horn after shutting down the canal and fighting there where they have less pressure from US.

Anonymous ID: 815060 Jan. 24, 2021, 10:56 a.m. No.12697722   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>7764 >>7797 >>7823

>>12697697

China And Panama: Penetrating America’s Backyard – OpEd

 

Washington’s Reaction

 

Beijing’s gradual penetration of Panama has raised growing concerns in Washington. For nearly 90 years the US administered the so-called Canal Zone, a 16-kilometre strip of land on both sides of the canal running all its length. Panamanians had no jurisdiction over the territory, literally having their country divided in half for nearly 90 years. This was a great source of resentment and humiliation.

 

In 1999 the US finally returned the canal to Panama and put an end to extra-territoriality. However, the US remained the most important political and economic actor in the country, retaining several military bases.

 

China’s growing presence in Panama has raised alarm bells in Washington. In May 2019 influential Republican Senator Marco Rubio warned Panama of the risks of growing too close to China; while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Panamanians of the dangers of China’s “predatory activities”. The Pentagon too has warned of the dangers that China may pose to the Panama Canal.

 

Following the May 2019 election of Laurentino Cortizo to the presidency, China’s winning spree in Panama seems to be slowing. The $2.5 billion contract for the Panama City metro third line went to a South Korean company while other projects seem to be on hold. Numerous observers speculate that this was perhaps a result of US pressure.

 

>https://www.eurasiareview.com/25082020-china-and-panama-penetrating-americas-backyard-oped/

 

Had to post just because of the name kek