Senators question experts during a hearing on national security and trade implications surrounding the Panama Canal.
An international law expert testifying before the U.S. Senate on national security threats to the Panama Canal said that “foreign operation” of the canal is prohibited and that China’s de facto control of ports on both ends of the canal potentially violates its Neutrality Treaty.
Eugene Kontorovich, a professor at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School and senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, testified before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on Jan. 28 concerning the canal’s effect on U.S. trade and national security.
Most of the discussion surrounded the canal’s national security implications. President Donald Trump vowed to take back the canal because of concerns about China’s influence on its operation.
The canal has both economic and military significance because it represents a strategic chokepoint. It is a critical pathway for U.S. warships in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, which could play a crucial role in a conflict with the Chinese regime.
Kontorovich said that Panama has allowed Chinese companies to operate ports on both ends of the canal, potentially violating the treaty with the United States.
However, he said, that would depend on the degree of Chinese control and involvement in the Chinese companies operating the ports.
Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings has controlled Balboa on the Pacific side and Cristobal on the Atlantic side of the canal since 1997. Those concessions were renewed in 2021 without a competitive bid for another 25 years.
Authorities in Panama announced on Jan. 20 that they have launched an audit of the Hong Kong-based port operator.
Kontorovich noted that Hong Kong businesses were originally under British authority before Hong Kong was handed over to China, which is ruled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
“One need not wait until the canal is actually closed by some act of sabotage or aggression, which, as we heard from the testimony, would be devastating to the United States,” he said.
The CCP mandates that Chinese companies cooperate with state intelligence agencies.
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