US says China’s presence around Panama Canal a ‘security concern’

Update: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met yesterday with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino and Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha in Panama City to address critical regional and global challenges. Rubio told Panama’s president that the status quo at the Panama Canal is “unacceptable” and, absent “immediate changes,” would require the United States to “take measures necessary to protect its rights under the treaty” to end what President Donald Trump sees as China’s influence and control over the Panama Canal.

China’s presence in the Panama Canal is a threat to the United States national security, to Panama itself and ultimately to the region, Mauricio Claver-Carone, United States Special Envoy for Latin America said on Friday in a special briefing ahead of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s trip to Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic from February 1-6.

“We see China’s presence in the Panama Canal – and the President has made it very clear – as not only a threat to the United States national security but to that of Panama itself and ultimately to that of the region. And that needs to be addressed,” he said.

The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is headed to Panama as part of his first international trip in his new role. This visit comes after President Donald Trump’s threat to take control of the Panama Canal.

President Trump made it clear he wants the U.S. to control the Panama Canal, a move the Panamanian government strongly opposes. Panamanian president José Raul Mulino ruled out negotiations with Donald Trump over control of the Panama Canal, mentioning that there is “absolutely no Chinese interference.”

“This increasingly creeping presence of Chinese companies and actors throughout the Canal Zone, in everything from force and logistics to telecommunications, infrastructure, and otherwise, which is very concerning not only, frankly, to the national security of the United States, but frankly to the national security of Panama and to the entire Western Hemisphere. So that’ll be an issue of discussion,” Mauricio Claver-Carone said in a briefing call with reporters on Friday.

Rubio will travel to Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic from February 1-6 to advance President Trump’s America First foreign policy, the US Department of State said in its statement on Friday.

The trip will begin in Panama, where the Secretary will meet with Panamanian president José Raul Mulino. Rubio will also visit the Panama Canal during this trip.

As it is reported, various issues will be discussed, including the Panama Canal and the cooperation on migration. 

Trump set his sights on Panama last month, when he accused Panama of “ripping off” the US and suggested the US was being forced to spend “billions of dollars in ‘repair’ money” with no say about the canal’s operations.

“The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the U.S.,” Trump said.

President Mulino responded to Trump’s accusations mentioning that “Rates are not a whim. They are and will be established, publicly and in an open audience, considering market conditions, international competition, operating costs and the maintenance and modernization needs of the interoceanic waterway.”