US leads new call backing Panama against China ‘threat’

Beijing retaliated on Wednesday after the United States and other regional nations referred to China’s actions during a dispute over the Panama Canal as a “threat.”

Beijing and Washington accuse one another of attempting to seize control of the Panama Canal, a crucial commercial route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Following a ruling by the Panamanian Supreme Court in January, Panama assumed management of two of the canal’s ports that had previously been run by a multinational based in Hong Kong.

Since then, China has denied the US charges and warned Panama with retaliation, while Washington has claimed that China arrested two ships flying the Panamanian flag in retaliation for the takeover.

The United States led countries including Bolivia, Costa Rica, Guyana, Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday in calling China’s actions “a blatant attempt to politicize maritime trade and infringe on the sovereignty of the nations of our hemisphere”.

“Panama is a pillar of our maritime trading system, and as such must remain free from any undue external pressure,” the US State Department said in the joint statement.

“Any attempts to undermine Panama’s sovereignty are a threat to us all.”

China’s foreign ministry slammed the statement as a “smear” on Wednesday.

“It is the United States that is politicizing and over-securitizing the port issue,” ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a news briefing.

“It is the United States that is hypocritically posturing and spreading rumors and smears everywhere.”

When Trump took office again last year, he pledged to regain US control over the Panama Canal, which had been ceded in an agreement negotiated by former President Jimmy Carter, who promised that the US would respect its sovereignty.

Trump hailed victory following Panama’s actions against the Hong Kong-based business, and the canal dispute essentially vanished as a source of disagreement between the two nations.

Last year, the Trump administration made a strong commitment to advance US interests in Latin America against foreign powers headed by China in a national security plan.