China summons Panama ambassador for pulling out of BRI after Trump’s threat

Beijing: China has summoned Panama’s ambassador to the country for pulling out of the multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), following US President Donald Trump’s threat to take back the Panama Canal.

Assistant Foreign Minister Zhao Zhiyuan on Friday summoned ambassador Miguel Humberto Lecaro Barcenas over Panama’s decision to not renew the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on cooperation with China on the BRI, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Panama recently announced the termination of the MOU on the BRI, to which the Chinese side expressed deep regret, Zhao said.

Under the framework of the BRI, pragmatic cooperation between China and Panama has rapidly developed across various sectors and achieved a series of fruitful results, bringing tangible benefits to Panama and its people, Zhao said.

The minister said more than 150 countries actively participate in the BRI, with achievements benefiting the people of various nations, including Panama.

Under the BRI, a signature initiative of Chinese President Xi Jinping, China has made huge investments in various countries around the world to build major infrastructure projects by extending loans.

The BRI projects attracted criticism of being debt traps as many countries struggled to pay back Chinese loans.

“Any attempts to reverse the course on the BRI and go against the expectations of the Chinese and Panamanian people do not align with the vital interests of Panama,” Zhao said.

He said China firmly opposes the United States wantonly undermining the China-Panama relations and discrediting and undermining cooperation under the BRI through pressure and threats, Zhao said.

It is hoped that Panama will exclude external interference and make the right decision based on the overall situation of bilateral relations and the long-term interests of the two peoples, he said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during his visit to Panama had earlier warned Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino that the US would take “measures necessary” if it did not take immediate steps to end China’s influence and control over the Panama Canal.

Mulino on Thursday announced Panama’s exit from the Chinese project.

“I do not know what was the intention of those who signed this agreement with China. What has it brought to Panama all these years?” he was quoted as saying by Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.

“What are the great things that this Belt and Road Initiative has brought to the country? So, no [we will not participate],” he said.

China’s foreign ministry on Friday said it firmly opposed actions by the US to “discredit and undermine” cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative through “pressure and coercion”.

Spokesman Lin Jian said China hoped Panama would “make the right decision”.

Commenting on the US decision, Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University in Beijing, said: “The US is desperately trying to counter China’s influence, and because it cannot comprehensively confront it, it is doing so by attacking … weaker links.” The huge influx of Chinese capital and investments into Panama in recent years had prompted the US to try to “regain control” over the Latin American economy, he told the Post.

Trump’s threats could pose some challenges for China, Alvin Camba, a critical materials specialist at Associated Universities Incorporated, told the Post.

He said Panama’s withdrawal from the Belt and Road Initiative could potentially trigger a “domino effect”, leading other countries in Latin America and globally to follow suit.

Camba noted that while Panama’s withdrawal did not necessarily mean a diminishing of China’s economic involvement in the region but it did mean the Chinese government would have “fewer avenues to exert its influence through these initiatives”, and represented a “setback” for Beijing.