UNITED NATIONS (AP) \u2014 The United States and China clashed over the Panama Canal at the United Nations on Monday, with the U.S. warning that Beijing\u2019s influence over the key waterway could threaten global trade and security and China calling U.S. accusations a pretext to take over the canal.<\/p>\n
The clash took place at a U.N. Security Council meeting where Panama\u2019s President Jos\u00e9 Ra\u00fal Mulino stressed the neutrality of the canal and his country\u2019s ownership of the waterway linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.<\/p>\n
Panama holds the council presidency this month, and Mulino was chairing a meeting on challenges to maritime security. Interpol Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza told members these include piracy, armed robbery, transnational crime and cyber criminals weaponizing artificial intelligence to attack ports where there is \u201cminimal cyber security, maximum exposure.\u201d<\/p>\n
U.S. President Donald Trump thrust Panama into the spotlight even before winning election last November by suggesting that his country should consider retaking control of the Panama Canal<\/a> and accusing Panama of ceding influence to China<\/a>.<\/p>\n The U.S. built the canal in the early 1900s as it looked for ways to facilitate the transit of commercial and military vessels between its coasts. Control of the waterway transferred to Panama in 1999 under a treaty signed in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter.<\/p>\n China\u2019s U.N. Ambassador Fu Cong emphasized to the council that \u201cPanama has consistently and effectively managed the canal, making significant contributions to global shipping and trade.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cChina has always respected the permanent neutrality of the canal and firmly supports Panama in safeguarding its sovereignty over the canal to ensure its openness and smooth operation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Acting U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea, who spoke afterward, went after China, expressing concern about its \u201coutsized influence over the Panama Canal area, especially over critical infrastructure and port operations.\u201d<\/p>\n Alluding to its claims in the South China Sea, she said, \u201cChina\u2019s expansive and unlawful maritime claims and aggressive actions demonstrate its threat to maritime security and commerce.\u201d She said the U.S. rejects these claims and supports countries opposing them.<\/p>\n \u201cChina\u2019s influence in the canal area is not just a risk to Panama and the United States, but rather a potential threat to global trade and security,\u201d Shea said.<\/p>\n The Trump administration has pressured China to have the Hong Kong-based operator of ports at either end of the canal sell those interests<\/a> to a U.S. consortium that includes BlackRock Inc.<\/p>\n Panama has vehemently rejected a takeover of the canal, but in April, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited Panama<\/a> and agreed with Mulino to step up security coordination. The agreement also gives U.S. troops access to strategic air and naval facilities in the Central American nation, which sparked large protests<\/a> in Panama\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n China\u2019s Fu asked for the floor to respond to Shea\u2019s accusations after all council members spoke, this time lashing out at the Trump administration.<\/p>\n \u201cThe United States\u2019 fabrication of lies and groundless attacks against China are nothing but a pretext for seeking control of the canal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The Chinese envoy called the U.S. and its deployment of offensive weapons in the South China Sea area \u201cthe biggest disrupter of peace and stability\u201d in the region, and he accused the administration of exacerbating risks to global maritime security.<\/p>\n \u201cChina firmly opposes economic coercion and bullying practices and urges the United States to stop fabricating rumors, lies and creating trouble,\u201d Fu said.<\/p>\n Murillo then responded, saying he wanted to stress Panama\u2019s sovereignty \u201cin terms of the ownership of the canal\u201d and the multilateral treaty governing its administration. He called the canal\u2019s neutrality \u201cthe only and the best defense\u201d to any specific or global threats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UNITED NATIONS (AP) \u2014 The United States and China clashed over the Panama Canal at the United Nations…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":337749,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[11410,48181,1395,7684,32,19827,4179,715,85471,3274,24230,20446,120679,602,285,8406,120680,49,5213,978,659,85987,263],"class_list":{"0":"post-337748","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-asia-pacific","9":"tag-central-america","10":"tag-china","11":"tag-china-government","12":"tag-donald-trump","13":"tag-dorothy-shea","14":"tag-general-news","15":"tag-jimmy-carter","16":"tag-jos-ral-mulino","17":"tag-latin-america","18":"tag-oceans","19":"tag-panama","20":"tag-panama-city","21":"tag-pete-hegseth","22":"tag-politics","23":"tag-united-nations","24":"tag-united-nations-security-council","25":"tag-united-states","26":"tag-united-states-government","27":"tag-us","28":"tag-usa","29":"tag-waterways","30":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115014374739006059","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=337748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/337749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=337748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=337748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=337748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}