Panama leaves the Chinese investment initiative “Neue Seidenstrasse”. His country hardly benefited from it, said President Mulino. But apparently visiting the new US foreign minister also played a role.
Panama has announced the withdrawal from the Chinese infrastructure program “Neue Seidenstrasse”. President José Raúl Mulino announced the decision shortly after visiting the new US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Mulino emphasized, however, that the end of the cooperation was only a decision of Panama. His country hardly benefited from the “New Silk Road” project.
The Panamaic Embassy in Beijing informed the Chinese side within the prescribed 90-day period that Panama would withdraw from the agreement, said Mulino. According to the contract text, it is automatically renewed every three years, the next extension would have been in place next year.
Controversial mammoth project
The “New Silk Road” is a collective term for various cooperation projects in the areas of trade and infrastructure between China and other countries worldwide. More than a hundred countries are part of China's President Xi Jinping. Panama joined in 2017.
China finances infrastructure projects such as ports, railway lines and airports in Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America and promises better access to the markets of other countries through the cooperation. Internationally, the initiative is partly sharply criticized because it drives poorer countries into the debt and dependence on China.
Termination after visiting the US Foreign Minister
The decision was preceded by Panama's decision by the new US Secretary of State Rubio, who had traveled to Panama on behalf of President Donald Trump on behalf of President Donald Trump at the weekend. He had accused Panama of “ripping” the USA with fees for using the Panama Canal.
He also denounced China's alleged influence on the enormously important waterway that connects the Atlantic with the Pacific. Trump threatened to bring the Panama channel back under US control. After meeting Rubio, Mulino had proposed to let the infrastructure agreement with China expire, which Rubio welcomed.
China sees cooperation as a success
A spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had declared on Wednesday that the cooperation with Panama as part of the “Neue Seidenstrasse” developed normally and “achieved fruitful results”. He hoped that they can withstand “interference from outside”.
If Panama was backed with his cooperation with China under the pressure of the United States, this would be a “regrettable decision,” said Chinese UN ambassador Fu Cong.
