After a meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday Panama President Jose Raul Mulino said he will end the country’s development deal with China. The meeting came after President Donald Trump protested the country giving control of its shipping to power-hungry China, which would incorporate the asset into its “Belt and Road” strategy of taking over infrastructure around the world.
Mulino said the Belt and Road agreement signed in 2017 with China will not be renewed.
“I think this visit opens the door to build new relations … and try to increase as much as possible U.S. investments in Panama,” Mulino said after the meeting with Rubio.
The United States, more than any other nation, benefits from ships being able to transit the Panama Canal. In excess of 40% of U.S. container traffic, valued at roughly $270 billion annually, transits this waterway, according to the U.S. Maritime Commission. For the first 75 years after the United States built the canal, the USA was responsible for operating it. That changed in 1999, when control was transferred by the Clinton Administration to the Republic of Panama. For 25 years, the Canal has been administered by the Panama Canal Authority, which is an agency somewhat separate from the government, but still under the government’s control in many ways. Panama suffers from profound government corruption.
“Further complicating this split of authorities is the reputation the Government of Panama has for corruption and susceptibility to foreign influence. Transparency International places Panama at 108 out of 180 rated countries, and the U.S. Department of Commerce International Trade Administration notes that corruption is Panama’s biggest challenge,” said Louis E. Sola is a commissioner with the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission, speaking to a Senate Committee last week.
“Presidential administrations that preceded that of now-President Mulino were particularly receptive to Chinese overtures and beginning in 2015, the People’s Republic of China only had to push lightly on a cracked door in Panama. In subsequent years, Panama became a member of the Belt and Road Initiative and ended its diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan). Chinese companies have been able to pursue billions of dollars in development contracts in Panama, many of which were physical infrastructure projects, some on or adjacent to the Panama Canal. No bid contracts were awarded, labor laws were waived, and the Panamanian people are still waiting to see how they benefitted,” Sola said. Read his testimony at this link.
Fascinating information. Friends, communist China is the dreadful adversary of peace and liberty in the 2st century. Any decent, patriotic American politician and businessman ought to have foreseen this day as far back as the great 1989 massacre at Tienanmen Square.
But ‘we the people’ suffer from a gross indecency and greed in our national politics, our major universities, and our manufacturing industries. We the people will be fortunate, indeed, if we do not have to pay a terrible price in blood and treasure to restrain China from its frightful goal of world domination.
Trump. Yes he’s an obnoxious bastard, but you have to admit he gets results. While he might be too much of a sovereignist perhaps he’s not. Going back to the Monroe Doctrine is not a bad idea in my book. In these crazy times maybe you have to be a little crazy to get somewhere.
The Art of the Deal. It’s all about how Trump’s mind works. If he stays healthy, he will negotiate another term beyond 2028. Count on it.
Lol. You’re dreaming. I give him a year.
Yeah, Daddy already sounds tired.
You don’t read the Constitution much, do you? Might want to brush up on the 22nd Amendment.
I could see a transmogrifier happening, JD is elected 2028 and Trump Veep. It could happen.
For some strange reason, I feel ..He’s not going to last long..Chinese have a way of taking care of people who stand in their way..
There ever was anything to prevail about
Trump, as well as his proxy, the Republican party
Like to exaggerate the truth. Trump claims that China was running the canal, When in fact, taiwanese companies
Run ports on each end of the canal. The last time I checked taiwan was our ally. I think trump was afraid that if china ever gets the stones to attack taiwan there, they might be inheritance of the ports. Trump liked to scare the american people, saying that the canal was originally built for the military and this is accurate, but we don’t use it so much anymore. We have surface fleets in all corners of the world.
Including the east and West Coast. We don’t need to trot our military through the canal anymore. But in an attempt to save face trump trotted little marco down there, and let him pretend like he came back with a sack of gold. Nothing is further than the truth. Everything is the same with the exception of we may got a few ten percent off coupons for some of our ships. The real concern isn’t greenland either
Trump doesn’t have the stones to take Greenland by force and Greenland doesn’t want anything to do with us. Besides that, Europe wouldn’t let us take it anyway.
All this is just smoking mirrors trying to hide the real story, and that is the tariffs. Let Trump has imposed on the American people. The 10% tariff with China is in addition to the tariffs, we have already imposed on them. The twenty five percent on canada and mexico are new. Canada is already taken american products off its shelves. Mexico, it’s going to hurt the united states, and it’s breadbasket, because half of what we import from them is produce. The rest is mostly oil. Cutting off oil will hurt us in the short. Term. Cutting off our food supply will hurt us next week. Because we don’t grow enough food to feed our country anymore. Has anyone noticed that trump has aged about twenty years in just about ten days? He’s letting his orange hair go back to white.
And I don’t think he’s getting much sleep. Those of you that care about trump should be concerned about is health and well being, because he’s looking like hell. All of this self induced stress.It is weighing heavily on him. But fear not about China. They don’t do anything stupid and physically taken Uber the Panama canal, where the Chinese government would be stupid. Don’t fall for trumps embellishment of the facts. We’re not all going to die tomorrow. We may just shed a few pounds.
Greg, how much have YOU been receiving from USAID?
Apparently enough to fund a new computer and keyboard every few months, at the rate that you post here.
Isn’t it funny the democrats were just saying the other day that China wasn’t a problem with canal control and panama was agreeing now it’s completely flip flopping and gee wiz it turns out China is a problem. Surprise surprise.
You’re not reading the whole story here. Best look elsewhere for a more complete picture.
Taiwan isn’t China.
And it’s only been two weeks!
It shows
Trump gets it
WELL look at that lil-greg & frank burns!
TRUMP was right AGAIN!
Happy Monday boys!
You copies word for word from your other salutations.
Don’t forget useless cman between all three they may have an IQ of 3.
They are just lost in fantasy land and have major TDS.
I think it’s nice to see them squirm and Complany about winning and being American.
China and Russia are deep in S America and are stripping it of its natural resources. The people don’t benefit, only the dictators and presidents. Democrats and their climate cults are very quiet on this.
They learned well from us.
Big subsidy project for Amazon, just as the billions being racked up to send perfectly healthy workers elsewhere, is a subsidy of usa citizen workers. There are costs: are they worth it?
Our navy ships don’t even fit in it anymore.
Largest ship in the Navy, the USS Gerald Ford is:
1,092 ft. long
134 ft beam at waterline, 256 ft beam at flight deck
39 foot draft.
.
The MSC Marie transited the Panama Canal on 08/30
1,200 ft. long
167.4 ft. beam
46.6 ft draft.
.
If our Navy ships do not fit anymore, it is political, not physical.
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