China and US clash at UN over Panama Canal
I’m sure no one in the Carter Administration envisioned China effectively running the Panama Canal when they gave the Canal Zone back to Panama. I say that honestly with utter conviction and not a hint of sarcasm: mainly because those idiots couldn’t have foreseen sunshine after dawn on the days after, much less China’s growth to become a global power. Back then China was backward, and couldn’t project much besides lots of unskilled grunts very much further than its geographical neighbors. Now they are a global economic power, and are able to sail icebreakers past Alaska and cause all kinds of naval problems closer to home.
The United States and China clashed over the Panama Canal at the United Nations on Monday, with the U.S. warning that Beijing’s influence over the key waterway could threaten global trade and security and China calling U.S. accusations a pretext to take over the canal.
The clash took place at a U.N. Security Council meeting where Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino stressed the neutrality of the canal and his country’s ownership of the waterway linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
There is some basis to US claims – I read some time ago that China Overseas Shipping Company, a state-owned shipping conglomerate, had invested substantial amounts in the ports at either end of the Panama Canal. Want to know how ubiquitous COSCO is? Next time you see a picture of a container ship or a train going by loaded with containers, try to count how many have COSCO painted on the sides.
The Trump administration has pressured China to have the Hong Kong-based operator of ports at either end of the canal sell those interests to a U.S. consortium that includes BlackRock Inc. Military.com
BlackRock is trying to buy those facilities at the sea ends of the Canal for $22.8 billion, a large chunk of change, from Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison. China is threatening to block the deal unless COSCO has a 20% stake in the proceedings.
CK Hutchison had announced in March that it would sell its 80% stake in the ports business. The deal covers 43 ports across 23 countries. In May, Hutchison confirmed that Swiss company Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), controlled by Italian billionaire Gianluigi Aponte’s family, had emerged as the main investor in the group planning to buy the business.
Per reports, BlackRock, MSC, and Hutchison are all open to including Cosco as a partner to move the deal forward.
If the deal is finalised, MSC is expected to become the largest port terminal operator in the world. BlackRock is expected to take over the two Panama ports specifically, while MSC will control other terminals globally. Marine Insight
Category: Government Incompetence, None, Politics
Having China as a business partner is akin to having a rattlesnake as a housemate.
It will not end well.
Can you imagine a Chinese Chairman giving anything away, let alone something as strategically important as the Panama Canal?
Hell, can you imagine ANY leader giving the canal away?
A pox on Jimmy Carter and his enablers!
The cost of his foolishness has no end.
‘Ol Jimmeh Kahtuh didn’t just fuck us over with the Panama Canal, look at the mess he made over in the ME when he let the mad mullahs run amok!
I don’t know how much Panama likes us. We gave them their country back twice. The second time the invasion had a 92% approval rating with the population in Panama.
Approximately .5% of the population ARE Americans. Ten times that number of Panamanians live in the US. That said, any military solutions would likely end in WWIII.
The WOAT president, haunts us in death.
China doesn’t run the canal. There is a company in Hong Kong that runs the ports on both sides of it (as well as 250 other ports) though. It is a private equity company but the Chinese government typically has their fingers in every pie, no reason to think this is different.
After the third set of locks was finished tonnage through the canal practically doubled and Panama is more of a first world nation, kind of like an Eastern European country, except better. For example, foreigners with residency permits may own and carry firearms. Panamanian don’t want Americans running the canal, it is the largest employer in Central America.
But he built houses for poor people.
That more than makes up for it!
We have one of those Habitat for Humanity houses near us. The house looks like shit and the owners don’t give a damn about their house either. And Carter still sucked as a president to this day. Of course there is Johnny B Biden to compare. Your opinion may differ.
Every Chinese merchant ship (there are well over 5,000 of them) is crewed by dual naval reservists/merchant marine officers. They are trained not only in weapons handling/use but also in rapid discharge and loading of cargo for emergency (wartime) conditions.
They’re prepared for anything. The US fleet hovers at around 80 deep sea vessels.
We took the on board Marine BLT to the Jungle survival school (Fort Sherman) in Colon Panama in 1964 or 1965. Can’t remember if was 64 or 65. I was on the Boarding and salvage party and for some reason, the brass wanted the boarding and search and boarding and salvage parties to go with the Marines and changed their minds because of a crew watch standers shortage.. Colon was great with the attached bars and stage entertainment and cross dressers on stage go back to those days. Nothing new. won of the new crew members shows us a matchbox with spanish fly in it and when he opened the box, there was a crushed up fly inside. everyone had a laugh on that one ..Street vendors sold bbq lizards and stuff I dont remember. We took the wood train with wood seats to the Milafor canal locks tour.That trip was hard on the butt.
I’ll bet there is a lot of gold behind the root problem of canal
ownership. Any threat to close it should be capped.
Fuk China
It’s about damn time we wake up
This couldn’t have gone on much longer