By Matt Spetalnick
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday he had “zero doubt” that China has a contingency plan to shut down the Panama Canal in the event of a conflict with the U.S. and that Washington intends to address what it sees as a national security threat.
Just days before visiting Central America on his first foreign trip as top U.S. diplomat, Rubio, in an interview with Sirius XM’s The Megyn Kelly Show, echoed some of President Donald Trump’s concerns about Chinese influence over the strategic waterway.
Trump, in his Jan. 20 inauguration speech, again accused Panama of breaking the promises it made for the final transfer of the canal in 1999 and of ceding its operation to China – claims that the Panamanian government has vehemently denied.
He vowed at the time that the U.S. would take back the canal but did not say when or how.
Rubio, a longtime China hawk during his Senate career, pointed to a Hong Kong-based company that operates two ports at the canal’s Atlantic and Pacific entrances as a risk to the U.S. because “they have to do whatever the (Chinese) government tells them.”
“And if the government in China in a conflict tells them to shut down the Panama Canal, they will have to,” Rubio said. “And in fact, I have zero doubt that they have contingency planning to do so. That is a direct threat.”
The Panamanian government has vehemently denied ceding operation of the canal to China and insists it administers the canal fairly to all shipping.
Earlier on Thursday, Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino ruled out discussing control over the canal with Rubio when he visits the country. “The canal belongs to Panama,” he told reporters.
Though the canal itself is operated by Panama, the two ports on either side are run by publicly listed Hong Kong company CK Hutchinson, while other ports nearby are operated by private companies from the United States, Singapore and Taiwan.
Rubio did not repeat Trump’s vow to retake the canal but insisted that the U.S. intends to address the issues the president has raised, saying the current situation “just can’t continue.”
“I would argue that the canal is already in the arms of the Chinese,” he said, expressing hope that the issue can be resolved soon.
Critics have accused Trump of modern-day imperialism in his threats over the canal as well as Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, suggesting such rhetoric could encourage Russia in its war in Ukraine and give justification to China if it decides to invade self-ruled Taiwan.
Some analysts have questioned whether Trump is serious about pursuing what critics say would be a land grab, speculating he may be laying down an extreme negotiating position to squeeze out concessions later on.
(Reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
