Panama Won’t Break Relations with China Despite US Pressure

Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino said he “will not” break diplomatic relations with China despite US President Donald Trump’s threats to “take back” the Canal because of alleged Chinese influence on the inter-oceanic waterway.

“No,” Mulino responded sharply to the question whether he would break relations with China in the face of US pressure, posed during his February 6^th weekly press conference. The President then immediately turned his attention to the next reporter, ending the discussion.

Trump has threatened to “take back” control of the Panama Canal because of the alleged presence of China and its Communist Party in the interoceanic waterway, a claim the Panamanian government has refuted on several occasions.

“That story, misspoken, or ill-intentioned, that the Chinese Communist Party is in control of the Canal Administration – for God’s sake, couldn’t be believed even if the Panamanians who belonged to the radical left at the time were resurrected,” Mulino insisted on Thursday.

In early February, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Panama at the beginning of a tour of Central America. The visit came amid tensions following Trump’s stated intentions to recover the important waterway.

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In an attempt to lower tensions between the two countries, Panama pledged not to renew an important trade agreement with China on the New Silk Road. Regarding the Canal, Mulino also announced that Panama would work with the US Navy to “optimize the priority transit of its ships” through the interoceanic waterway.

“That decision [not to renew the New Silk Road agreement] was made by me, and I made it long before the meeting with Rubio. I did so because of all that came before, and I have allowed myself to evaluate our bilateral relationship with China,” said Mulino. Nonetheless, he did note that the US is Panama’s main trading partner.

However, the crisis continued after the US State Department announced on February 5th that Panama had supposedly agreed to stop charging US ships for transit through the Panama Canal, thus saving “millions of dollars a year”.

This information was denied hours later by the waterway authority, as well as by Mulino, who, visibly angry, described the US communiqué as an “intolerable (…) falsehood”.

This article was originally published in Spanish by Confidencial and translated by Havana Times. To get the most relevant news from our English coverage delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe to The Dispatch.