Jacob Mardell
On February 2, President Murillo of Panama announced that his government will not renew the memorandum of understanding on the Maritime Silk Road signed in 2017 with the People’s Republic of China (PRC). At a press conference that followed shortly after a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Murillo said that Panama is going to study “the possibility of whether it can be completed sooner or not. I think it is due for renewal in one or two years,” he explained (X/ECOtvPanamá, February 2). [1] The Maritime Silk Road refers to the maritime portion of the PRC’s One Belt One Road (一带一路) initiative. The PRC was quick to respond. Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Zhao Zhiyuan (赵志远) made solemn representations to the Panamanian government, saying that his country “deeply regrets” (对此深表遗憾) the announcement, and warning that Panama would be running counter to the expectations of the Chinese and Panamanian peoples by “‘driving backwards’ and sailing against the wind on ‘One Belt One Road’” (在“一带一路”上“开倒车”、行逆风船违逆中巴人民期待) (FMPRC, February 8).
The flashpoint around the Panama Canal centers on Hutchison Port Holdings (和記港口), a private firm headquartered in Hong Kong that has operated the two of the canal’s five ports since 1997. While this does not equate to U.S. President Donald Trump’s assertion that the PRC controls the Panama Canal, the evolution of the PRC’s maritime strategy in recent decades and Hutchison’s moves to closer align with Beijing in the last few years reflect longstanding and valid concerns in the United States about Beijing’s strategic investments in global port infrastructure (White House, January 20; The Wire China, February 9). Already, Panama’s supreme court has agreed to consider a request filed by a lawyer to nullify the contract to CK (AFP, February 22).
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