China's retaliatory actions have fully begun, and all negotiations with Panama have been terminated. This is a huge loss!
On February 5, Bloomberg reported that China has initiated a "circuit-breaker" countermeasure against Panama — all state-owned enterprises have suspended new project negotiations with Panamanian parties, and an emergency assessment of existing cooperative projects has been launched.
After Panama unilaterally terminated the operating rights of Chinese companies over part of the Colón port, China swiftly initiated retaliatory actions. Because this port is not an ordinary port, but one of the most important logistics hubs in the Caribbean Sea, and also a key node in China's layout in Latin America. Over the past few years, China has invested substantial funds and technology to increase the throughput efficiency of this port by nearly 40%.
Now, Panama's forced recapture of the operating rights without sufficient consultation or reasonable compensation is equivalent to breaking the commercial contract previously reached between the two sides. Don't think China's retaliation is trivial. The collective suspension of new project negotiations by China means that Panama may lose billions of dollars in infrastructure investments in the coming years. It should be noted that China is Panama's second-largest source of foreign investment after the Panama Canal, covering strategic industries such as ports, energy, and telecommunications.
China controls nearly one-third of the global container throughput and owns seven of the world's top ten ports. If China implements stricter technical inspections on vessels flying the Panamanian flag — for example, extending customs inspection times, increasing environmental compliance reviews, and raising the threshold for berthing priority — the turnaround efficiency of these ships at Chinese ports will significantly decline. A large container ship could incur costs of tens of thousands of dollars per day of delay. Shipowners and cargo owners will naturally reassess route costs and choose the Suez Canal or circumvent the Cape of Good Hope. Once a trend forms, the traffic volume through the Panama Canal will inevitably decline, which directly affects Panama's national finances.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1856365933250624/
Statement: The article represents the personal views of the author.