US President Trump emphasized on Wednesday that the United States will not let China take over the Panama Canal.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Roosevelt Presidential Library, Trump said: “China is now trying to take over the Panama Canal, and we will never let it succeed.”
Since winning the presidential election again, Trump has frequently mentioned the Panama Canal, hinting that he may use force to seize the canal. Last year, he claimed that the Panama Canal had already been controlled by China and vowed to take everything back for the United States.
Last March, CK Hutchison announced that it would sell its 43 overseas port businesses—including two ports on the Panama Canal—for US$22.8 billion (about RM93.1 billion) to an international consortium consisting of US asset management giant BlackRock and the Mediterranean Shipping Company under Italy's billionaire Aponte family.
This deal was viewed as a victory for Trump and also triggered discontent in Beijing. Chinese regulators subsequently launched an investigation, and CK Hutchison faced criticism, causing the transaction to remain in a stalemate.
In January this year, Panama’s Supreme Court ruled that the operating contracts held by CK Hutchison’s Panama port company for two Panama Canal ports were unconstitutional. At the end of February, the Panamanian government officially took over these two ports.