Trump Warns Of “Very Powerful” Action Against Chinese Influence In Panama Canal

U.S President Donald Trump has warned of “something very powerful” happening soon, over China’s influence and control over the Panama Canal. He stated that the critical waterway, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, was not given to China, but a violation of the agreement had taken place.

The Panama Canal dubbed a modern “wonder of the world” by Trump, was built by the U.S. and opened in 1914 at the cost of thousands of lives of labourers, mostly people of African descent from Barbados, Jamaica, and elsewhere in the Caribbean.

Among the first tasks upon returning to the White House, newly sworn-in U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to take control of the canal, handed over to Panama in 1999 by then-U.S. President Jimmy Carter, claiming that it is being operated by Beijing.

Trump stated that he did not think troops would be necessary, but that Panama had violated the agreement and the United States would take back the canal.

“China’s running the Panama Canal…it was not given to China…But they violated the agreement and we’re going to take it back or something very powerful is going to happen.” Trump told reporters on Sunday.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, known as a China hawk, on Sunday, threatened action against Panama, warning the country’s President Jose Raul Mulino that Washington will “take measures necessary” if Panama does not immediately take steps to end China’s influence and control over the waterway.

Panama President Jose Raul Mulino, however, insisted he was not afraid of a U.S. invasion and offered talks.

I met with Panamanian President @JoseRaulMulino and Foreign Minister @javierachapma to make clear that the United States cannot, and will not, allow the Chinese Communist Party to continue with its effective and growing control over the Panama Canal area. We also discussed… pic.twitter.com/Hj0pXGahqk

— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) February 2, 2025

During his first trip overseas as the top U.S. diplomat, Rubio took a guided tour of the canal accompanied by its Panamanian administrator as a South Korean-affiliated oil tanker and Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship passed through the vital link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Meeting President Jose Raul Mulino, Marco Rubio “made clear that this status quo is unacceptable and that absent immediate changes, it would require the United States to take measures necessary to protect its rights under the treaty,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.

Panama President Jose Raul Mulino said his meeting with Rubio was respectful and cordial, according to a Reuters report.

Mulino showed a willingness to review some Chinese businesses in Panama, including a key 25-year concession to Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings, renewed in 2021 for the operation of ports at both entrances of the canal, pending the results of an audit, the report said.

The above-mentioned contract has been targeted by U.S. lawmakers and the government as an example of China’s expansion in Panama, which they claim goes against a neutrality treaty signed by both countries in 1977.

The Panama government and some experts reject that assertion, mainly because the ports are not part of the canal’s operations, overseen by the Panama Canal Authority, an autonomous agency overseen by the Panamanian government.

Meanwhile, a broad agreement between Panama and China to contribute to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, under which the Asian country expanded investment in Panama during previous administrations, will not be renewed, Mulino said.

References: FirstPost, Hindustan Times

Source: Maritime Shipping News