United States President Donald Trump’s new commitments to recapture the Panama Canal have signaled rising US-China conflicts in Latin America, America’s resource-rich garden and standard sphere of influence.
US Senator Eric Schmitt introduced a resolution on January 23 calling for the Panamanian government to “expel official and interests of the People’s Republic of China ( PRC ) and terminate Chinese management of key Panamanian ports after Trump declared in his inauguration speech on January 20 that it was time for the US to retake control of the Panama Canal.
Additionally, the solution urges the Panamanian government to:
- restate its commitment to the Panama Canal’s “permanent impartiality” as defined by the 1977 Neutrality Treaty,
- assessment and terminate contracts allowing Chinese state-owned businesses or China-based so-called private entities to maintain proper infrastructure, including the ports of Balboa and Cristobal,
- reaffirm its commitment to upholding Panama’s sovereignty and protecting the safety of the Northern Hemisphere by pursuing partnerships that conform to democratic principles and reciprocity of respect.
According to the quality, the US government should make significant investments to upgrade Panama’s river system and provide alternatives to Chinese-funded projects, give technical, financial, and proper support to Panama as it seeks to assert its independence over its crucial infrastructure, and lessen its dependence on organizations affiliated with the PRC.  ,
In essence, Schmitt’s resolution calls for the Panama Maritime Authority ( AMP ) to revoke Hutchison Ports Holdings, a port management company with international interests that Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing controls.
” This has been a problem for a while that China has successfully controlled the Panama Canal. On either close, they control the ships. Why is that significant? Because the Panama Canal is where the majority of the products we ship to the Pacific pass, Schmitt told Fox News in an exam.  ,
” The river is no natural anymore. It’s piece of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, where they buy up ships, they build flights and if you criticize the CCP, you may not find airlines again”, he said. They create a” structure that they can move on and off.” We just, from a national surveillance view, cannot have that situation”.
He claimed that the US did not take into account the fact that its military would have to traverse the Panama Canal before it “foolishly gave it away.” Who will determine the 20th century will determine the great rights’ battle between America and socialist China, he added.
China’s trade and investment with Latin America have significantly increased over the past 20 times.  ,
In a statement, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Atlantic (ECLAC ) reported that China and the countries in the region have increased in recent years, reaching US$ 489 billion in 2023. That figure was only$ 18 billion in 2002.
Also in 2023, China’s overseas direct investment ( ODI) in Latin America and the Caribbean amounted to about$ 9 billion, or 6 % of the region’s total ODI. The US has been carefully monitoring China’s ability to use its economic impact in Latin America for political and military uses there.  ,
Chinese President Xi Jinping inaugurated the Chancay mega-port on November 14th during an online service in Peru. According to state media, China will use the Chancay interface to promote trade and adopt its Belt and Road Initiative.  ,
Mauricio Claver-Carone, the US State Department’s Special Envoy for Latin America, said the US may establish a 60 % tax on all products coming from the Chancay interface.  ,
‘ We’re taking it back!’
But the Panama Canal is in Trump’s quick places. Trump reiterated his threat during his inaugural address in a press briefing on January 7 that the use of military power might be used to retake control of the Panama Canal.
In his speech on January 20, Trump said,” The Panama Canal, which mistakenly was given to the state of Panama, has been given because the US spent more money than ever before on a project and lost 38, 000 lives in the Panama Canal’s construction.”
” Our deal’s function and our treaty’s nature have been completely violated.” British ships are receiving a lot of extra money and not being treated quite in any way, shape or form. And that includes the United States Navy”, he said. The Panama Canal is being run by China. And we didn’t give it to China. We gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back” . ,
The Filipino authorities announced the same day that an audit of Hutchison Ports, a nearby entity, had begun. Anel Bolo Flores, the Filipino Comptroller General, promised to launch a probe to check whether Hutchison is complying with its 25-year agreement for the Balboa and Felipe box stations.  ,
Due to this, Filipino President Jose Raul Mulino stated last December that no power could control the Panama Canal, and that their sovereignty and independence are not subject to any kind of power.
China does not participate in waterway management or operation. Never actually has China interfered”, Mao Ning, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said in a press briefing on January 22. We regard the canal’s sovereignty and consider it to be a permanent natural international waterway.
After the Nicaraguan authorities cut decades-old diplomatic relations with Taiwan and leaped toward Beijing, diplomatic relations between China and Panama started in June 2017.  ,
In December 2018, Panama signed on to Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative. Citing a WhatsApp talk, media reports said past Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela had received US$ 143 million of “donation” from Beijing to reduce the Panama-Taiwan ties.
According to Schmitt’s resolution, US construction of the Panama Canal required more than a decade of work ( 1904–1914 ), involved tens of thousands of workers and cost approximately$ 375 million, equivalent to more than$ 10 billion in 2025, with thousands of workers losing their lives due to disease and hazardous conditions.
According to US National Archives ‘ Rediscovering Black History, the majority of the people responsible for building the Panama Canal came from the West Indies, a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. However, some pro-China outlets have claimed that Chinese immigrants were the ones who lost their lives in the Panama Canal’s construction.  ,
In an article published on January 20, The South China Morning Post claimed that thousands of Chinese people lost their lives while building Panama’s canal and railroads.  ,
In an article published on January 25, Guancha.cn columnist Xiong Chaoran claims that Chinese workers left marks on the Panama Canal with their sweat and blood. He criticized US lawmakers for supporting Trump in promoting the Panama Canal issue.
The American Transcontinental Railroad, which was completed in 1869, was reportedly completed with the aid of 15, 000 Chinese immigrants, according to the Chinese Historical Society of America. According to researchers, hundreds of these workers lost their lives while working on the project.  ,
Jimmy Carter, the US president, and General Omar Torrijos, the commander of Panama’s National Guard, signed the Panama Canal Treaty in 1977. It made it certain that after 1999, Panama would regain control of the Panama Canal.  ,
Hutchinson in the crosshairs
Through an extensionable concession of 25 years plus 25 years that the Panamanian government gave to the management of the ports of Balboa and Cristobal at both ends of the Panama Canal, Hutchison Port Holdings ( Hutchison Ports ), a subsidiary of CK Hutchison Holdings, established operations in Panama in 1997.
The Panamanian government renewed the concession for Hutchison Ports by 25 years in 2021.  ,
Hutchison Ports requested a right of reply from Asia Times, but the publication had not yet received a response. The business has so far declined to respond to any media inquiries about the matter.  ,
On the Singapore Exchange, some Hutchison Ports ‘ operations are listed as Hutchison Port Holdings Trust. The listed trust has not recently filed any new documents with the bourse.
According to CK Hutchison’s website, Hutchison Ports is the world’s “leading port investor, developer and operator” and operates a network of 53 ports across 24 countries throughout Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, the Americas and Australasia.
In addition to Buenos Aires, Argentina’s container terminal, Hutchison Ports runs ports in Mexico and the Bahamas in North America. It also operates ports in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Italy and Spain.
It’s not known if Washington will put pressure on other port facilities because it believes they are strategic because they are under Chinese influence.
Yong Jian contributes to the Asia Times. He is a Chinese journalist who specializes in Chinese technology, economy and politics.  ,