Russia Warns Trump Against Seizing The Panama Canal

(MENAFN- Newsroom Panama) Russia warned President trump on Tuesday against seizing the Panama Canal, after Trump reiterated his intent to take control of the strategic waterway in his second inaugural address Monday. “We expect that during the expected discussions between the leadership of Panama and US President Donald Trump on issues of control over the Panama Canal, which certainly falls within the sphere of their bilateral relations, the parties will respect the current international legal Regime of this key waterway,” said Alexander Shchetinin, director of the Latin American Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, according to Russian state media outlet, TASS. Shchetinin reaffirmed Russia's commitment to the neutrality of the critical trade route and said it expects both America and Panama to continue respecting that agreement.

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Trump told reporters on Tuesday that he had suggested to Chinese President Xi Jinping during a recent phone call that Beijing should help to get the conflict settled.

“Russia has been a party to the protocol since 1988 and confirms its obligations to observe the permanent neutrality of the Panama Canal, advocating for keeping this international transit waterway safe and open.” Trump's pledge to take control of the canal has been a central theme of his recent rhetoric, paired with expansionist designs on Greenland, a Danish overseas territory, and apparent tongue-in-cheek references to making Canada the“51st state.” “American ships are being severely overcharged and not treated fairly in any way, shape or form, and that includes the United States Navy. And above all, China is operating the Panama Canal,” Trump said Monday. Panama has full control of the canal itself, but Hutchison Ports PPC, a Hong Kong-based company, controls two ports at either end of it.

While Hutchison and CK Hutchison Holdings, its parent company, are not owned by the Chinese government, they are subject to the national security law Beijing imposed on Hong Kong in 2020. Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino responded Monday to Trump's remarks by rejecting Trump's vow to retake the canal, saying it“is and will remain Panama's and its administration will remain under Panamanian control with respect to its permanent neutrality.” Mulino also pushed back against the suggestion that China had outsized influence over the canal and said,“There is no presence of any nation in the world that interferes with our administration.”

The Comptroller General of the Republic, Anel Bolo Flores, stated that Panama Ports Company (PPC) has not paid“a cent” to the State for three years for the concession of the ports of Balboa and Cristóbal.“Let them pay what they have to pay. They have not paid a dollar for three years, under the pretext of an advance they made to the government of Nito Cortizo. They have not paid a cent for three years. They have been at zero for three years,” said Flores, who has already ordered a“severe” forensic audit to examine the entire contractual relationship with PPC since its beginnings.

The United States built the canal in the early 1900s and relinquished control of the waterway to Panama on Dec. 31, 1999, under a treaty signed in 1977 by former President Carter. Shchetinin noted that under the agreement,“each of the two countries must protect the canal from any threat to the neutrality regime.” “At the same time, a reservation was made that the said right of the United States to defend the Panama Canal does not mean and should not be interpreted as the right to interfere in the internal affairs of Panama, and any actions by the American side will never be directed against the territorial integrity or political independence of Panama,” Shchetinin added.

Panama begins an Audit of a Hong Kong Company to Assist Dealing with Donald Trump

US officials have raised concerns about Chinese companies' operations around the Panama Canal. Panama's government on Monday began an audit of a Hong Kong company that operates ports at either end of its canal, after US President Donald Trump warned that he wanted to take back the waterway over alleged Chinese influence. In his inauguration speech on Monday, Trump repeated criticisms he made in recent weeks about the Panama Canal, which handles about 3 per cent of global seaborne trade each year. In response, Panama's Office of the Comptroller General published a video on social media platform X of about 10 men and women in suits filing off a bus into the local offices of Hong Kong-based Hutchison Ports to begin an audit, in a move seen as a nod to Trump.“Today our auditors arrived at [the company] to start an exhaustive audit aimed at guaranteeing efficient and transparent use of public resources,” the comptroller general's office said on X.

Hutchison Ports, the ports arm of Hong Kong-listed conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings, operates 53 ports in 24 countries including in the UK, Germany and Hong Kong. It first won the concessions to operate two ports, one at each end of the canal, in 1997, the year that Hong Kong was returned to Chinese rule by the UK. The concessions were renewed in 2021. Controlled by the family of Li Ka-shing - one of the richest in Asia - CK Hutchison Holdings also operates a vast global infrastructure portfolio including Northumbrian Water in the UK and the Australian Gas Networks. China does not control the canal, but some officials in Washington are increasingly concerned about Chinese companies' presence in the area. Hong Kong's government has become more closely aligned with China since a crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 2019 and the introduction of tough national security legislation. CK Hutchison did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Panama's audit. The US oversaw the building of the canal, which opened in 1914, but handed full control back to the Central American country in 1999. Trump has called the move a“mistake” and has decried the high fees.

Fees to cross the fresh water canal and locks have risen significantly since a major drought in 2023. That led to restrictions and later changes in how slots are assigned.“We have been treated very badly from this foolish gift that should never have been made,” Trump said.“We didn't give it to China, we gave it to Panama and we're taking it back.” The editorial board Donald Trump's careless talk Panama has long been one of the closest US allies in Central America and has been trying to halt US-bound migration through its notorious Darién Gap. The country cut ties with Taiwan to recognize China during Trump's first term in 2017. Panama's President José Raúl Mulino - a law and order conservative - on Monday published a strongly worded statement“wholly rejecting” Trump's words and saying the canal would remain Panamanian. He added that no nation was interfering with the canal's administration and that dialogue was the best way to resolve the issues Trump raised. He also disagreed with Trump's characterization of the US returning the canal to Panama.“The canal wasn't given by anyone, it was the result of a generational fight that culminated in 1999,” he wrote on X.

Panama Rejects Trump's vow to 'Take Back' Panama Canal

Mulino warns Trump that he cannot violate international law: 'The Canal belongs to Panama'. Panama appealed to the UN Charter in response to Trump's threat to take control of the Canal. Panama's president has rejected a plan by Donald Trump to“take back” the Panama Canal, telling his US counterpart the key trade route“is and will remain” in the country's hands. In his inaugural speech, President Trump claimed that Panama had“broken” a promise to remain neutral, alleging that“China is operating the Panama Canal”. President Jose Raul Mulino said he rejected Trump's words in their“entirety”, adding there is“no presence of any nation in the world that interferes with our administration”. The Panama Canal is one of the US's most important trade routes, with about 40% of all the country's container ships passing through the waterway between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

In the first address of his second term, Trump claimed:“American ships are being severely overcharged and not treated fairly in any way, shape or form and that includes the United States Navy. “And above all China is operating the Panama Canal and we didn't give it to China, we gave it to Panama, and we're taking it back.” The US built the canal in the early 20th century but, after years of protest, President Jimmy Carter signed a treaty with Panama in 1977 to gradually hand back control of the waterway, which Trump has branded“a big mistake”. In 1999, Panama took full control of the canal with a treaty in place that it remains neutral and open to vessels of all nations. Following Trump's address, Mulino said in a social media post on X:“The canal was not a concession from anyone. It was the result of generational struggles that culminated in 1999.”

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