China Stepped into ‘Vacuum’ US Left In Panama, Heritage Foundation President Warns

PANAMA CITY, Panama—The lack of a strong U.S. presence in Panama has opened a door for America’s adversaries, according to Kevin Roberts.  

Standing on the edge of the Panama Canal, Roberts, president of The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal that the absence of the U.S. in Panama and “not having control of the Panama Canal,” created an opportunity, “particularly [for] our greatest adversary, China, to step into that vacuum, and that of course is precisely what they’ve done.”  

Roberts visited Panama as part of a weeklong Heritage Foundation delegation to Latin America in mid-March. The delegation, which included Victoria Coates, vice president of the Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy, and Andrés Martínez-Fernández, a senior policy analyst focused on Latin America, among others, met with Panama Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha and Panama President José Raúl Mulino to discuss growing concerns over China’s influence in the region.  

Roberts said he and the Heritage delegation of policy experts, “were able to convey to [Mulino] and the foreign minister, both of whom are great public servants, that for the United States, especially for those of us who are conservatives, any country that does business with China is not a friend of the United States.” 

Panama’s leaders “recognize where we as Americans are coming from and where President [Donald] Trump in particular is coming from,” Roberts said. “But I don’t think that they comprehend fully how significant a problem [China] is in Panama and across Latin America.”  

Trump and Mulino have had indirect public disagreement over China’s influence on the Panama Canal.  

During his inauguration speech on Jan. 20, Trump said, “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.”   

Mulino denies China is operating the canal and says ownership of the Panama Canal is not open for negotiation.  

The U.S. built the Panama Canal in the early 1900s, but President Jimmy Carter signed a treaty with Panama in 1977 to transfer ownership and control of the canal to Panama.  

The transfer of the canal from the U.S. to Panama, which was completed on Dec. 31, 1999, was “one of the most egregious decisions in the history of geopolitics since our country was founded,” Roberts said.  

Panama, not China, operates the Panama Canal, but China has been, and remains, involved in projects related to the canal.  

China has “more control than they should” in Panama, Roberts said. “Most of that control comes in the form of economic interests, investing companies, and so on.” 

Panama established diplomatic ties with China in 2017 and the following year, Panama announced China Communications Construction Co Ltd and China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd had won a bid to construct a fourth bridge over the Panama Canal.  

In February, the BBC reported that the China Railway Tunnel Group Company is building an extension to the Panama City Metro under the south side of the canal.  

China is “infringing upon American national security by building massive infrastructure here,” Roberts said.  

A recent large canal port deal between an American-based company and a Hong Kong-based company has called further attention to China’s influence in the region.   

The Chinese government has been critical of a deal for a Hong Kong conglomerate, CK Hutchison, to sell port holdings on both ends of the Panama Canal to BlackRock, an American global asset manager. Trump has praised the deal, but CK Hutchison says the agreed-upon deal is “purely commercial” and has nothing to do with Trump’s recent comments on the canal. 

As conversations regarding the canal and China’s presence in the region continue, Roberts said “President Mulino, I think, can be a really rational partner, certainly for his country’s interest, but also for ours.” 

It may be helpful, Roberts said, for Mulino and Trump to meet because they are both economically and socially conservative and the two leaders would likely “get along.”  

Trump and Mulino are both “very successful business owners, both really proud fathers and grandfathers. That comes across when you’re in the presence of both of them,” Roberts said. “And while I can see some near-term challenges, and there are some near-term challenges in Panama, I also can see some real medium-term, long-term opportunities if President Mulino and his cabinet sees them.” 

Asked to explain the “near-term challenges” in Panama, Roberts said while there are others, most do relate to China’s interest in the region.  

“There are too many otherwise aligned policymakers, heads of state across Latin America, with the United States who don’t understand fully the threat that China is, not just to the United States, but to their own people,” Roberts said. “And if Heritage could wave a magic wand and get them to understand one thing, it would be that.” 

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