China Lashes Out at US ‘Coercion’ after Panama Declines to Renew Infrastructure Agreement

 An aerial view shows cargo vessels after transiting through the Panama Canal, in Colon, Panama, February 1, 2025. (Reuters)
An aerial view shows cargo vessels after transiting through the Panama Canal, in Colon, Panama, February 1, 2025. (Reuters)
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China Lashes Out at US ‘Coercion’ after Panama Declines to Renew Infrastructure Agreement

 An aerial view shows cargo vessels after transiting through the Panama Canal, in Colon, Panama, February 1, 2025. (Reuters)
An aerial view shows cargo vessels after transiting through the Panama Canal, in Colon, Panama, February 1, 2025. (Reuters)

China on Friday lashed out at what it called US “coercion” after Panama declined to renew a key infrastructure agreement with Beijing following Washington’s threat to take back the Panama Canal.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a briefing that China “firmly opposes the US smearing and undermining the Belt and Road cooperation through means of pressure and coercion.”

Assistant Foreign Minister Zhao Zhiyuan also met Panama’s ambassador to China and lodged solemn representations on Friday, the Foreign Ministry said Saturday.

The Belt and Road Initiative is President Xi Jinping’s signature foreign police drive to bind China closer to countries in the region and beyond by building roads, railways, airports, power plants and other infrastructure. The program has completed some major projects but also raised concerns about debt and environmental impact.

Panama’s decision to walk away from it was seen as a concession to the US over the canal after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Panamanian leader José Raúl Mulino on Sunday that Panama must immediately reduce what President Donald Trump says is Chinese influence over the canal area or face potential retaliation from the United States.

Mulino has rejected pressure from the new US government to discuss ownership of a waterway that is vital to global trade.

Despite that, some believe Panama may be open to a compromise under which canal operations on both sides are taken away from the Hong Kong-based Hutchison Ports company, which was given a 25-year no-bid extension to run them. An audit into the suitability of that extension is already underway and could lead to a rebidding process.

A drop in water levels in the canal due to drought has slowed transit through the canal, raising further complaints from Trump, although the delays appear to have nothing to do with China.

Lin said the Belt and Road Initiative has brought “active participation” from over 150 countries and that it has brought “fruitful results” to Panama and China, but gave no examples.

“We hope Panama will bear in mind the general picture of bilateral relationship and the long-term interests of both peoples, resist external interference, and make the right decision,” Lin said.



US House Speaker Johnson Will Travel to Israel on June 22 

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., during a news conference at the RNC near the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP)
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., during a news conference at the RNC near the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP)
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US House Speaker Johnson Will Travel to Israel on June 22 

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., during a news conference at the RNC near the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP)
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., during a news conference at the RNC near the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP)

US House Speaker Mike Johnson will travel to Israel to address the parliament on June 22, he said on Wednesday.

"Our ties run deeper than military partnerships and trade agreements," Johnson said in an emailed statement.

Punchbowl News, which first reported Johnson's plan, said the House Speaker was expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem during the trip.

Johnson did not provide further details on the planned trip.

Johnson announced the visit as Israel presses on with its military campaign in the Gaza Strip, more than 20 months after it launched its offensive there in response to a deadly incursion into Israel led by the Palestinian group Hamas.

On Tuesday, Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Norway imposed sanctions on far-right Israeli cabinet ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, accusing them of repeatedly inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Israel called the action "outrageous" and said the Israeli government would hold a meeting early next week to decide how to respond.