Kinas tilbageholdelse af panama-flagede skibe ved kinesiske havne i de seneste uger har vakt opmærksomhed hos Amerikas øverste udenrigspolitiske embedsmand.
I torsdags kritiserede udenrigsminister Marco Rubio Kinas handlinger og sagde, at de “rejser alvorlige bekymringer om brugen af økonomiske værktøjer til at undergrave retsstatsprincippet i Panama.”
Udenrigsminister Rubio påpegede, at tilbageholdelserne har fulgt efter en januarbeschutning truffet af Panamas højeste domstol, der fandt CK Hutchisons operation af landets Balboa- og Cristóbal havneterminaler for ugyldig. Domstolens afgørelse ugyldiggjorde effektivt den 25-årige kontraktforlængelse, som havneoperatøren og den panamanske regering havde underskrevet i 2021.
“Detentions, delays, or other impediments to the movement of vessels undermine the stability of global supply chains, increase costs for businesses and consumers, and erode confidence in the international trading system,” Rubio said in a statement.
_Rulingen udgjorde et slag mod Beijings interesser i den bredere latinamerikanske region, mens den samtidig blev set som en sejr i Washington, som så muligheden for kinesisk indflydelse på Panamakanalen som en væsentlig national sikkerhedsrisiko._
The Balboa and Cristóbal ports, which operate on the Pacific and Atlantic sides of the Panama Canal, have been under heavy international spotlight since Hutchison had initially agreed to sell them to BlackRock and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) for nearly $23 billion.
I response to Rubio’s comments, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning called the accusation of detainments “groundless and confuses right and wrong.”
“The U.S.’s repeated wrongful allegations only reveal its attempt to take control of the Panama Canal,” Mao said in a Friday morning press briefing.
I de første tre dage af april var syv ud af 13 fartøjer, der blev tilbageholdt i kinesiske havne, panama-flagede, ifølge Tokyo MOU, en regional skibsinspektionsforening bestående af 22 havnemyndigheder i Asien-Stillehavet.
Igennem marts var antallet af Panama-relaterede tilbageholdte fartøjer betydeligt højere og udgjorde 93 af 125 fartøjer—næsten 75 procent af skibene. Dette tal overgik februar-talene, hvor 20 af de 48 tilbageholdte fartøjer i Kina var Panama-registrerede. I januar var 23 ud af 72 tilbageholdte fartøjer panamflagede.
Føderal Maritime Commission-formanden Laura DiBella sagde i sidste uge, at agenturet tæt følger stigningen i tilbageholdelserne, som hun sagde var “langt uden for historiske normer.”
“Disse intensiverede inspektioner blev udført under uformelle direktiver og ser ud til at være rettet mod at straffe Panama efter overdragelsen af Hutchisons havneaktiver,” sagde DiBella. “Givet at Panama-flagede skibe udgør en betydelig andel af USAs containeriserede handel, kan disse handlinger få betydelige kommercielle og strategiske konsekvenser for USAs skibsfart.”
_Tensions in the wake of the high court’s decision escalated throughout March, with China’s Transport Ministry calling in Maersk and MSC for a summons after both companies were named the temporary operators of the Balboa and Cristóbal terminals for the next 18 months._
Although the meetings revolved around “international shipping business conduct,” the ministry said, neither carrier explained the details of their discussions.
.Substring, China’s largest state-owned container shipping company, Cosco Shipping, suspended its services at the Balboa port and rerouted its loops that were headed toward the Panamanian terminal.
According to a customer advisory, Cosco canceled confirmed bookings to Balboa and directed empty containers to the Manzanillo and Colon terminals on the Atlantic side. Import cargo already held at Balboa was released as normal.
Some transshipment cargo normally handled by Balboa on Cosco’s West Coast South America and regional Caribbean services has since been shifted to Mexico’s Lazaro Cardenas Port and Colombia’s Port of Buenaventura.
Panama’s government asked Cosco to reconsider the suspension, but the carrier has not budged.
“The Cosco issue has really taken us a little bit by surprise,” Jose Ramon Icaza, Panama’s minister for canal affairs, told reporters. “All cargo is important, and certainly Cosco’s cargo is important for us, for Panama, and we obviously hope that they will reconsider that decision not to use the port of Balboa.”
CK Hutchison, whose subsidiary Panama Ports Company (PPC) had operated the Panama ports since 1997, has rejected the court’s decision, and accused Panamanian authorities of unlawfully seizing its property. PPC filed an international arbitration complaint against the government, claiming damages of more than $2 billion.
Geopolitical pressures surrounding the Panama Canal and its adjacent ports began to fester in December 2024 after then-President elect Donald Trump expressed his desire to “take back” the trade artery, which the U.S. officially transferred to Panama on Dec. 31, 1999.
