Is China ‘operating’ the Panama Canal, as Trump says?

Two of the five ports adjacent to the canal, Balboa and Cristóbal, which sit on the Pacific and Atlantic sides respectively, have been operated by a subsidiary of Hutchison Port Holdings since 1997.

The company is a subsidiary of CK Hutchison Holdings, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate founded by Hong Kong businessman Li Ka-shing. It has port operations in 24 countries, including the UK.

It has port operations in 24 countries, including the UK.

Although it is not owned by the Chinese state, said Ryan Berg, director of the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, there are concerns in Washington about how much control Beijing will be able to exercise over the company.

A wealth of potentially useful strategic information on ships through the waterway flowing through this port.

“There is an increase in geopolitical and economic tensions between the US and China,” said Mr. Berg. “That kind of information about cargo would be very useful in the event of a supply chain war.”

CK Hutchison did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.

Bids to operate the ports are virtually non-competitive, said Andrew Thomas, a professor at the University of Akron who has written a book on the canal. “The US at the time didn’t really care about this port and Hutchison had no objection,” he said.

Chinese companies, both private and state-owned, have also strengthened their presence in Panama through billion-dollar investments, including a cruise terminal and a bridge to be built over the canal.

This “package of Chinese activities”, as Mr Thomas described it, seems to have led to Trump’s assertion that the canal “belongs” to China, but the operation of the port is not the same as ownership, he stressed.

Beijing has repeatedly said that China’s relationship with Latin America is characterized by “equality, mutual benefit, innovation, openness and benefit to the people”.