Det skriver Matt Margolis her
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino on Sunday, making it clear that the U.S. won’t tolerate China’s growing influence over the Panama Canal.
“Secretary Rubio informed President Mulino and Minister Martínez-Acha that President Trump has made a preliminary determination that the current position of influence and control of the Chinese Communist Party over the Panama Canal area is a threat to the canal and represents a violation of the Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama Canal,” the State Department said in a statement. “Secretary Rubio made clear that this status quo is unacceptable and that absent immediate changes, it would require the United States to take measures necessary to protect its rights under the Treaty.”
The Associated Press had an interesting take on the situation:
The statement was unusually blunt in diplomatic terms, but in keeping with the tenor and tone Trump has set for foreign policy. Trump has been increasing pressure on Washington’s neighbors and allies, including the canal demand and announcing Saturday that he was imposing major tariffs on Canada and Mexico. That launched a trade war by prompting retaliation from those close allies.
Mulino, meanwhile, called his talks with Rubio “respectful” and “positive” and said he did not “feel like there’s a real threat against the treaty and its validity.”
The news had barely settled before another bombshell dropped: Panama has backed down.
Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino announced that after his meeting Rubio, his government will not renew its 2017 memorandum with China on the “Belt and Road Initiative.” He also stated that Panama will seek to terminate its agreements with the Chinese government ahead of their scheduled end dates in 2027 and 2028.
“One important thing, which is a decision I made and communicated to you, is that the 2017 MoU on the Silk Road, the Bell and Road Initiative, will not be renewed by my government. That is the case,” Mulino said according to a translation of his remarks. “We are going to study the possibility of whether it can be finished earlier or not, but I think it is due for renewal in one or two years, because it is every three years. So that initiative that was signed when it was signed, at the time it was signed, will not be renewed by my government. I think “that this visit opens a path to build a new stage of relations.”
He continued, “That’s how I see it, that’s how I felt from Secretary Marco Rubio, and at the same time, we’re trying as much as possible to increase U.S. investments in Panama. I explained to him a series of infrastructure projects that the government has in its portfolio, in the hope that they’ll be aware of them and that when the time comes, the bidding process that will begin very soon will be done, so that they can get involved.”
They’re not just refusing to renew their 2017 deal with China; they’re scrambling to cut ties ahead of schedule. China’s influence over the canal is coming to an end.
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Quote:
MOSCOW, February 2. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed confidence that his US counterpart Donald Trump will quickly establish order among European elites, which will soon “stand at the master’s feet, wagging their tails tenderly.”
https://tass.com/politics/1907585
https://benjaminfulford.net/for-trump-going-after-the-bad-guys-was-the-easy-part-now-comes-the-hard-part-us-bankruptcy/
https://www.scribd.com/document/821877601/Offical-Final-Stand-Down#from_embed
Det er også grunden til at han ikke ser nogen grund til at have nogen fra EU med til en fredsforhandling om Ukraine.
Det US firma som tidligere stod for vedligeholdelsen af havnene, valgte selv ikke at forny kontrakten og der var ingen andre der meldte sig, så derfor måtte Panama tegne kontrakt med et Hongkong selskab, som den kinesiske regering ikke har nogen ejerandel i.
Dette skete i 2017 under Trump og dengang gav han ikke nogen tegn på at være utilfreds med det. Den største trafik gennem kanalen er generet af USA og den næst største kunde er Kina, så begge har en stor interesse i at holde kanalen fuld operationsdygtig.
Panamakanalen lider i øvrigt af vandmangel. Der er så meget trafik at den højtliggende sø, der leverer vand til begge sider, er ved at blive drænet, så der tales om at reducere antallet af skibe, for at hindre at den må lukke helt ned i en periode.
Så vidt jeg havde forstået var det en del af det kinesiske Belt and Road initiativ, at bygge en jernbane tværs gennem landet, der kan aflaste kanalen, men det projekt er Trump åbenbart ikke interesseret i.
Tak for din interessante information.