Panama Withdraws from China After Trump's Threats

Panama Withdraws from China After Trump's Threats

Dagens.com (AU)

Story by Camilla Jessen

03/02/2025

파나마는 트럼프의 위협 이후 중국에서 철수합니다

Photo: U.S. Department of State / Wikimedia Commons© Photo: U.S. Department of State / Wikimedia Commons

 

Panama will withdraw from China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), President Jose Raul Mulino announced following talks with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

"I have made an important decision and I am informing you of it," Mulino said, as cited by The Moscow Times. "My government will not renew the 2017 memorandum of understanding on the Belt and Road Initiative. That is true. We will study the possibility of ending the project early."

파나마가 중국의 일대일로(一帶一路:육상·해상 실크로드) 이니셔티브에서 탈퇴할 것이라고 호세 라울 물리노(Jose Raul Mulino) 대통령이 마르코 루비오(Marco Rubio) 미국 국무장관과의 회담 후 발표했다.

"나는 중요한 결정을 내렸고, 그 결정을 여러분께 알리고 있다"고 물리노는 말했다고 모스크바 타임스가 인용했다. "우리 정부는 2017년 일대일로 구상에 대한 양해각서를 갱신하지 않을 것이다. 그것은 사실입니다. 프로젝트를 조기에 종료할 수 있는 방안을 검토하겠다"고 밝혔다.

 

Recently, the U.S. has increased pressure on Panama over China’s growing influence in the strategic waterway. President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed concern over China’s role in the Panama Canal, warning that its involvement violates the 1999 treaty that transferred control of the canal from the U.S. to Panama.

최근 미국은 전략적 수로에 대한 중국의 영향력이 커지면서 파나마에 대한 압박을 강화하고 있다. 도널드 트럼프 대통령은 파나마 운하에 대한 중국의 역할에 대해 거듭 우려를 표명하면서 중국의 개입은 운하의 통제권을 미국에서 파나마로 이양한 1999년 조약을 위반하는 것이라고 경고했다.

 

Trump Pressures Panama Over Canal Control

According to Mulino, Rubio did not make a direct threat to reclaim the Panama Canal or use force but relayed that Trump views China’s presence in the canal area as a treaty violation.

물리노에 따르면, 루비오는 파나마 운하를 매립하거나 무력을 사용하겠다는 직접적인 위협을 가하지는 않았지만, 트럼프가 운하 지역에 중국이 주둔하는 것을 조약 위반으로 간주하고 있다고 전달했다.

 

The U.S. State Department issued a statement warning that if Panama does not take immediate action to reduce China’s involvement, Washington would be forced to "protect its rights."

 

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Trump has long criticized U.S. loss of control over the canal, arguing that American ships are overpaying for passage while China’s influence in the region grows.

 

"We didn’t give it to China, we gave it to Panama, and now we’re going to take it back," Trump declared in his 2025 inauguration speech.

The Hong Kong-based company Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., which operates cargo terminals on both ends of the canal, has been a particular point of concern for the Trump administration.

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), launched by President Xi Jinping in 2013, aims to expand global trade networks through infrastructure and logistics investments. As of 2023, 149 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America had signed onto the initiative.

Panama joined in 2017, deepening economic ties with Beijing, but Washington has repeatedly warned against China's growing influence in the region.

 

U.S.-Panama Canal Relations

 

The Panama Canal has long been a critical focal point in U.S. foreign policy.

In 1903, Washington backed Panama’s independence from Colombia in exchange for control over the canal, an arrangement originally intended to be permanent.

 

But in 1977, amid rising anti-U.S. sentiment, President Jimmy Carter signed treaties agreeing to transfer full control to Panama by 1999. The agreement also prohibited the U.S. from maintaining military bases in the canal zone, although it retained the right to transit military vessels through the strategic waterway.

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