The head of a US congressional committee on Thursday, warned Panama over Chinese influence on the Panama Canal, following reports that leading Chinese state-owned conglomerates are bidding for port concessions there now for sale by Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings.
In his letter to Minister of Maritime Affairs and Administrator of the Panama Maritime Authority Luis Roquebert, Representative John Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, expressed alarm over China’s “malign influence” on the canal, a conduit vital for global shipping and supply chain security.
“I am writing to applaud the work you, your Ministry, and your country have undertaken to reject undue influence from the People’s Republic of China,” the Michigan Republican wrote.
Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino “has demonstrated his commitment to strengthening the US-Panama relationship and has taken concrete steps to reverse efforts by the PRC to expand malign influence in Panama,” the letter said.
Moolenaar urged Roquebert’s ministry to ensure that whoever ends up controlling Cristobal and Balboa, two Panama Canal ports operated by CK Hutchison, is not “beholden” to the Communist Party of China.
