The Panama Canal is back in the headlines after President Donald Trump raised political and security concerns over the future of the strategic waterway linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The heart of the President’s argument is that the canal, built and paid for by the United States in the early 20th century, is now coming under Chinese communist influence.

Indeed, 25 years after the United States transferred full control of the canal to the Republic of Panama, there’s growing evidence of Chinese interest in the strategic waterway.

Thus, President Trump dispatched Secretary of State Marco Rubio to Panama to address the situation with the Panamanian leadership. According to the State Department, Secretary Rubio informed President José Raúl Mulino 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.”

Significantly 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........

© The Korea Times