U.S. Tells U.N. Chinese Leverage Over Panama Canal Threatens Global Trade

The United States warned the UN Security Council that Beijing exercises an “excessive influence” over critical infrastructure and port operations linked to the Panama Canal, calling the situation a threat to global commerce and security. Interim U.S. representative Dorothy Shea cited Chinese involvement in terminals at Balboa and Cristóbal as evidence of growing leverage that could, in Washington’s view, give China the ability to disrupt a waterway that channels roughly 5 percent of world maritime trade. China’s ambassador Fu Cong rejected the accusation, saying Beijing respects Panamanian sovereignty and accusing Washington of fabrication. The exchange reignited tensions triggered by President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly suggested the United States should reassume control of the 51-mile canal it ceded to Panama in 1999 in order to counter China’s regional reach. Panama’s president, José Raúl Mulino, defended the canal’s treaty-mandated neutrality, telling the Council that equal access for all nations is the “best and only defense” against external pressure. The Panama Canal Authority added that since regaining full control, the country has doubled the canal’s capacity and plans further investments to safeguard shipping even as climate-driven droughts squeeze operations.