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Reclaiming the Canal: America’s Strategic Win Over Chinese Influence

February 27, 2026/in Budget and Finance, Elections, Featured, Hot Topics, Labor & Unions, News, Policy, Politics, Social Issues, The Truth/by Majority Report

A turning point in the contest for influence across the Americas

On February 23, 2026, Panama took a decisive step to reclaim control over the Balboa and Cristóbal ports, ending the long-standing concession held by Panama Ports Company, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings.

The move followed a January 29 ruling by Panama’s Supreme Court declaring the original 1997 concession unconstitutional.

While this decision affirms Panama’s sovereignty, it also marks a significant strategic victory for the United States.

The Panama Canal is not merely a commercial passageway. It is one of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints, facilitating roughly 5 percent of global maritime commerce.

Think of the canal as a highway owned by Panama. The ports are the toll plazas and freight hubs attached to that highway.

Although Panama controls the waterway itself, a Hong Kong–based firm managed the terminals at either end. That doesn’t mean China controlled the canal — but it did mean a Chinese-linked operator had access to shipping flows, manifests, and logistical data tied to a critical global chokepoint.

Nearly 40 percent of container traffic moving through the canal is tied to U.S. interests. For American industry, agriculture, and military logistics, its uninterrupted and secure operation is indispensable.

Under the prior arrangement, concerns emerged over the strategic implications of Chinese-linked management overseeing port operations adjacent to the canal.

In an era of intensifying U.S.–China competition, access to sensitive shipping data — including cargo manifests, transit schedules, and logistical patterns — presents vulnerabilities that extend beyond commerce into national security.

The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, led by Rep. John Moolenaar, raised alarms about these risks, particularly the canal’s role in supporting U.S. military readiness and supply chain resilience.

Addressing the Economic Impact

Safeguarding more than $270 billion in annual cargo from potential exposure to adversarial influence is not a theoretical concern — it is a strategic imperative.

The court’s ruling also addressed longstanding economic issues.

The previous concession reportedly cost Panama an estimated $1.3 billion in lost revenue due to exemptions and non-competitive terms. The forthcoming rebidding process opens the door to more transparent and competitive investment, including participation from U.S.-backed groups seeking to modernize infrastructure and improve efficiency.

This shift aligns with broader U.S. diplomatic efforts in the Western Hemisphere.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has criticized Chinese Communist Party encroachments near the canal as inconsistent with the spirit of longstanding neutrality agreements. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department has emphasized the importance of fair opportunities for American firms operating in strategically sensitive sectors.

The Stakes

At stake is more than port management.

The canal represents leverage in times of crisis. Ensuring that it remains free from undue external influence protects not only commercial shipping lanes but also the operational mobility of the U.S. Navy.

In a region where Beijing has steadily expanded its economic footprint, Panama’s decision signals a recalibration toward balanced sovereignty rather than dependency.

Hong Kong authorities have protested the ruling, and CK Hutchison has reportedly faced market repercussions — signs that the decision reverberates beyond Panama’s borders. For the United States, however, the outcome strengthens hemispheric stability and reinforces the principle that critical infrastructure in the Americas should not become an extension of great-power rivalry.

Economically, secure and efficiently managed ports bolster American trade routes and reduce vulnerability to global disruptions. Strategically, the development counters broader Chinese initiatives across Latin America that seek long-term geopolitical influence.

In an era defined by competition among major powers, control over infrastructure is inseparable from national strength. Panama’s ruling affirms its sovereignty while contributing to greater security and stability across the Western Hemisphere.

For the United States, it is a reminder that vigilance over strategic assets is not optional — it is essential.

AUTHOR

Alex Littlefield

Dr. Alexis “Alex” Littlefield, is former Chief of Staff for Christian Action Network, holds a PhD in International Politics and has coordinated high-profile events with congressional staff and administration officials, including assistant secretaries and agency heads. Subscribe to his personal Substack page.

Please visit the Patriot Majority Report substack.

‘Critically Important’: Iran Allegedly Used China As Golden Ticket To Quietly Operate In Panama Canal

March 25, 2025/in Chinese influence, Communism, Culture War, Economy, Elections, Hot Topics, Must Read, National Security, News, Policy, Politics, Radical Islamic Terrorism, Socialism/by The Daily Caller

China’s growing foothold over the Panama Canal isn’t just fueling its own commercial interests, it also appears to be helping America’s adversaries engage side-step sanctions, court documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation show.

China has expanded its presence considerably in the Panama Canal since former President Jimmy Carter sold the shipping lane to Panama for $1 in 1977, and is funding multi-billion dollar infrastructure projects in the surrounding countryside while buying up ports to solidify its foothold. It’s also been a boon to American adversaries, like Iran.

Panamanian court documents obtained by the DCNF show how Iran appeared to have used proxy firms based in Hong Kong, China, to register ships in the Panama Canal and attempted to reap the benefits of chartering its ships.

“Given the presence of Chinese companies in port operations and infrastructure near the canal, U.S. officials worry that Beijing may seek commercial or strategic leverage in the region,” Dr. Umud Shokri, senior visiting fellow at George Mason University with expertise in foreign policy, told the DCNF. “The Trump administration’s efforts to regain influence over the canal reflect Washington’s broader view of the waterway as a critical national security asset.”

The documents center on various cases involving three Hong Kong-based shipping companies — Grace Shipping, Expander Shipping and Grandest Shipping — all of which have been accused of being subsidiaries of the state-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), a Tehran-based company owned by the Iranian government.

IRISL was sanctioned under the first Trump administration, with the State Department describing the company as the “preferred shipping line for Iranian proliferators and procurement agents.” The EU went into more detail than did the Panamanian courts. The EU Council, charged with overseeing security, defense and diplomacy said that for years, IRISL has been “involved in shipping military related cargo,” while the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) “converts container ships owned by IRISL into drone carriers.”

Iran has clandestinely operated in the Panama Canal for years, as the Latin American country is considered to be the world’s biggest supplier for “flags of convenience,” which allow shippers to register their vessels under Panamanian colors in exchange for a fee to conceal their port of origin, according to Reuters. Panama took away its flag usage privileges from 136 ships alone over their links to Tehran in 2023.

In 2018, the Hong Kong-based companies were looking to sell three separate medium-range tanker ships through an agreement known as a bareboat charter to a Greece-based shipping company. But President Donald Trump announced sanctions on Iran that same year, effectively killing the deal and forcing the Iranian-backed companies to sell the ships outright to avoid penalties.

The Greek company went on to use the ships unimpeded for two years after the 2018 sale. However, in 2020, the Hong Kong companies filed a lawsuit in Panamanian court to reclaim the ships from firms under the Greek company’s management that bought the vessels, alleging that the initial selloffs were invalid.

The Panamanian court ordered the Greek company to return two of the ships to Grandest Shipping and Expander Shipping, respectively, or pay off the multi-million dollar valuation of the ships to the plaintiffs, according to the legal documents. The case involving Grace Shipping has yet to be resolved.

Though the companies now deny their association with IRISL, they have yet to disclose what third parties they were sold to and the nature of the supposed sales. The only people who have appeared as witnesses in the case for the companies are Iranians related to IRISL, according to court documents.

The Hong Kong-based firms are represented by Arias B. & Associates in Panama, court documents show.

China’s presence in the Panama Canal has allowed Iran to take its business to the Western Hemisphere right under the nose of the U.S.

“China has become unabashed in its unwillingness to comply with U.S. efforts to stop Iranian illicit behavior, and has, in fact, enabled it,” Rebeccah L. Heinrichs, senior fellow and Director of the Keystone Defense Initiative at the Hudson Institute, told the DCNF. “China is the one of the most effective enablers of Iran’s ability to evade US sanctions.”

The U.S.’s ability to curtail China-based front companies is partly a function of America’s willingness to potentially strain the U.S.-China business relationships, Heinrichs told the DCNF.

“So some of this is just implementing the sanctions, finding the front companies that pop up and not giving China any plausible deniability,” Heinrichs told the DCNF. “All of this is endorsed by and facilitated by the [Chinese Communist Party].”

Iran has long made moves to avoid Western sanctions, especially in its oil trade.

President Donald Trump sanctioned Iranian minister of petroleum Mohsen Paknejad Thursday for allowing “the export of tens of billions of dollars worth of Iranian oil and has allocated billions of dollars’ worth of oil to Iran’s armed forces for export,” according to the Treasury Department. The Iranian government operates so-called “shadow fleets” that export primarily to Beijing.

An entire shadow market for Iranian oil has emerged with China and Russia’s help. Beijing and Moscow have both taken steps to obfuscate the origins of the oil, according to the Atlantic Council.

“I think we need to be very serious about Iran sanctions,” Michael Singh, managing director and Lane-Swig Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute, told the DCNF. “But being serious about Iran sanctions does not mean just listing more entities, listing more boats. I’m a former senior Treasury official. I’m all in favor of doing that. Can you do that without enforcement? It’s meaningless.”

Panama has been more than happy to accommodate China in its expansion of maritime power.

China’s Landbridge Group acquired Panama’s largest Atlantic port, Margarita Island, for $900 million in 2016. The acquisition was in conjunction with Beijing’s “Belt and Road” initiative (BRI), a global infrastructure project that has already made its way into a myriad of developing nations.

The BRI has been criticized for often giving China undue leverage over the target countries with debt, dubbed “debt-trap diplomacy,” according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

Panama formally joined the Belt and Road initiative in 2017.

Moreover, Panama gave a 25-year no-bid renewal to the Hong Kong-based Hutchison Ports to operate two ports on either end of the canal, covering both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. However, American investment giant Blackrock agreed to purchase the ports from the China-based firm on March 5 for $22.8 billion.

U.S. officials and congressmen, such as Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Republican Utah Sen. John Curtis, have levied criticism at the Panama Canal Authority for allegedly not doing enough to enforce sanctions, especially against China. The Panama Canal Authority has vehemently pushed back against the accusations, saying they are “not a haven for sanctions evasion.”

“The United States has found that Iranian vessels are sometimes flagged by Panama in order to avoid sanctions so that they could sell the fuel that they have and then they can take that money and then use it as they wish,” Louis Sola, chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), said during a Senate Commerce Committee hearing in January.

Cruz also echoed the sentiment during the Commerce Committee hearing, saying the U.S. could not be “idle” while China grows its foothold.

“China has always been firmly opposed to illegal and unjustifiable unilateral sanctions and so-called long-arm jurisdiction by the US. The international community, including China, has conducted normal cooperation with Iran within the framework of international law,” a Chinese Embassy spokesperson told the DCNF. “This is reasonable and lawful without harm done to any third party, and deserves to be respected and protected.”

“All of this is primarily about control of sea lanes,” Heinrichs told the DCNF. “So it’s critically important, and I credit the Trump administration for recognizing that and for understanding it, that you cannot let the Chinese take over the Panama Canal.”

The Iranian Foreign Ministry and Arias B. & Associates did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

AUTHOR

Wallace White

Contributor.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Panama Port Sale Protects U.S. Interests

March 7, 2025/in Commentary, Economy, Elections, Hot Topics, National Security, News, Policy, Politics, Taxes/by Family Research Council

“My administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we’ve already started doing it,” announced President Donald Trump in an address to Congress on Tuesday night. “Just today, a large American company announced they are buying both ports around the Panama Canal and lots of other things having to do with the Panama Canal and a couple other canals. … We didn’t give it to China; we gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back.”

On Tuesday, a consortium of BlackRock Inc., Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), and Terminal Investment Limited (TiL) announced it had “reached in principle” an agreement to purchase the Panamanian ports in question from Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison, as well as its ports around the world, for a grand total of $22.8 billion.

BlackRock completed acquisition of GIP in October 2024, and GIP holds a stake in TiL. (GIP purchased a 35% stake in TiL from its parent corporation, Mediterranean Shipping Company — owned by an Italian billionaire family — in April 2013, but it sold part of its stake when GIC Private Limited, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, purchased a 10% stake in May 2019.) So, the “BlackRock-TiL” consortium is largely controlled by the American investment firm.

Under the agreements, the BlackRock consortium will acquire CK Hutchison’s 90% interest in the Panama Ports Company, “which owns and operates the ports of Balboa and Cristobal in Panama,” which lie near the Pacific and Atlantic ends of the Panama Canal, respectively.

President Trump and his allies had expressed concern that the operation of these ports by a Chinese company threatened U.S. national security interests, given the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) totalitarian sway over its domestic businesses. If the U.S. Navy needed to traverse the Panama Canal in a crisis, the presence of Chinese operatives near either end could give the CCP substantial leverage.

In a separate agreement, the consortium will also acquire CK Hutchison’s 80% interest in Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH), “owning, operating and developing a total of 43 ports comprising 199 berths in 23 countries.”

In addition to the Panamanian ports, the HPH port-folio will literally span the globe, including ports in the Americas (two in the Bahamas and seven in Mexico), Europe (seven in the Netherlands, four in the U.K., and one each in Belgium, Germany, Poland, Spain, and Sweden), the Middle East and Africa (five in Egypt, three in the UAE, two in Saudi Arabia, and one each in Iraq and Oman), and Asia and Australasia (two each in Indonesia, Pakistan, South Korea, and Thailand, and one each in Malaysia, Myanmar, and Vietnam.)

CK Hutchison ports operating in China and Hong Kong (of which their website lists 17 locations) will not be included in the sale.

The sale of CK Hutchison’s global ports “will proceed on an expedited basis,” with documents “expected to be signed on or before 2nd April 2025.” The sale of its ports in Panama “will proceed separately on confirmation by the Government of Panama.”

In a press release, CK Hutchison Co-Managing Director Frank Sixt said the sale agreement “is purely commercial in nature and wholly unrelated to recent political news reports concerning the Panama Ports.” He explained, “This Transaction is the result of a rapid, discrete but competitive process in which numerous bids and expressions of interest were received. As a result, the Transaction valuation agreed in principle is compelling, and the Transaction is clearly in the best interest of our shareholders.”

“Wholly unrelated” is probably too strong a denial. Its port business “is one of Hutchison’s biggest assets and has long been a pride of [96-year-old owner] Li [Ka-shing]’s,” Asia’s ninth-richest person, The Wall Street Journal reported. “The company first looked at legally challenging any moves to wrest the business from Hutchison’s control,” but BlackRock’s offer “was too good to turn down,” WSJ added, citing an inside source who concluded, “It was a very elegant solution. Li does not like leaving things lingering.”

However Hutchison chooses to spin the sale, the bottom line is that President Trump got what he wanted; control of ports on either side of the vital Panama Canal will be transferred from Chinese to American control. The solution also gives Panama what they want out of the issue, which is respect for their territorial sovereignty over the canal. With BlackRock and Hutchison reaching an agreement that makes both corporations happy, Tuesday’s deal apparently wins five-star reviews all around.

One interesting aspect of the trade is the participation of the investment management firm, BlackRock. Readers of TWS may recognize the name from its controversial ESG (environmental, social, and governance) activism carried out with its clients’ funds, which prompted a dozen conservative states to divest billions of dollars from BlackRock since 2022, which forced BlackRock to dial back its woke activism, at least a little bit.

But control of Panamanian ports by a woke American corporation is still preferable to Chinese control. At worst, BlackRock might pursue inefficient green energy initiatives or implement diversity quotas — the type of folly we are accustomed to seeing from American commercial giants.

The concerns about China controlling real estate so close to a critical naval thoroughfare are altogether different. At best, there is a danger of espionage. At worst, there is the possibility that some sort of Chinese interference may delay American efforts to concentrate naval power in the Pacific in response to, for instance, an attempted Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

Thus, one doesn’t need to be a fan of BlackRock to see the benefit in their taking control of ports adjoining the Panama Canal.

Finally, the BlackRock ports deal showcases one political advantage of capitalism — or, more specifically, corporatism. Less than two months into the Trump administration, a private corporation relieved the U.S. of a major vulnerability for its national security — one which could have tangled up the federal government in diplomatic knots. But a powerful investment firm solved the problem for the government simply by finding the right price.

The price for securing the Panama Canal — as well as a global ports network — was, apparently, $22.8 billion. That’s an unthinkable amount of money for most Americans to pull together on any timetable, although the richest could finance it for a venture they truly cared about (Elon Musk pulled together $44 billion, mostly in loans, to finance his 2022 purchase of Twitter).

But BlackRock is no private individual. BlackRock manages a mind-boggling $11.6 trillion in assets, nearly double the expenses of the U.S. federal government in fiscal year 2024 ($6.75 trillion). Thus, BlackRock’s $22.8 billion deal represents 0.2% of its assets under management (AUM), not counting the contributions from its consortium partners. “This agreement is a powerful illustration of BlackRock and GIP’s combined platform and our ability to deliver differentiated investments for clients,” said BlackRock Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink.

It turns out that, when many people pool together their investments, they can amass a far larger pool of capital than any one person could accumulate on his or her own. This is a powerful tool, and it can be used for good or evil. There are also downsides to corporatism, such as the dilution of accountability (or even utter lack of it) for how each person’s money is used.

However, the potential to accumulate massive amounts of capital through incorporation is a feature of the American system. And, in this case, it advanced America’s national interests.

AUTHOR

Joshua Arnold

Joshua Arnold is a senior writer at The Washington Stand.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

Marco Rubio To Visit Panama On First Trip As Secretary Of State

January 25, 2025/in Elections, Gun Rights, Hot Topics, Must Read, National Security, News, Promoted Video, Social Issues/by The Daily Caller

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Panama on his first trip abroad as the top U.S. diplomat after President Donald Trump’s calls to seize the country’s canal, three unnamed officials told Politico on Wednesday.

The trip, which is scheduled from late January into early February, also includes stops in El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic, according to the outlet. The plans are reportedly tentative.

“We won’t continue to ignore the region as other administrations have,” Tammy Bruce, a spokeswoman for the State Department said on Wednesday, the outlet reported. “Engaging with our neighbors is a vital element in addressing migration, supply chains and economic growth, which are key to Secretary Rubio’s pursuit of foreign policy focused on making America strong, prosperous, and safe.”

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Bruce added that Rubio chose to prioritize the Western Hemisphere first because “it’s where we live.”

Rubio is expected to visit the country in an attempt to advance two of the president’s key campaign promises: curtailing illegal migration through Central America to the U.S. southern border and reasserting American control over the Panama Canal, officials told the outlet.

“The Panama Canal belongs to Panama and will continue to belong to Panama,” Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino said at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday. “The Panama Canal is not a concession or a gift from the United States.”

“We gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back,” Trump said during his inaugural address, characterizing former President Jimmy Carter’s treaty ceding the canal to Panama as a “foolish gift.” Trump also expressed concern over Chinese management of the certain ports along the canal.

China has expanded its footprint in the canal significantly over recent years, with the China-based Landbridge Group acquiring control over Margarita Island — home to Panama’s largest Atlantic port — in 2016. Additionally, the Panamanian government renewed in 2021 the lease of Hong Kong-based Hutchison Ports PPC, which operates the ports of Balboa and Cristobal, two major trade hubs in the canal’s Pacific and Atlantic outlets, respectively.

During his Senate confirmation hearing, Rubio warned that Chinese companies would have no choice but to “shut [a port] down and impede our transit,” should China order them to do so, noting that there are no “independent” Chinese companies.

U.S. critics say that China’s increasing presence in the area endangers the neutrality of the canal, one of the stipulations in Carter’s treaty.

Carter signed a treaty in 1977 to gradually cede the Panama Canal, which the U.S. constructed under President Theodore Roosevelt, to its host country. The treaty also mandated that all U.S. military bases in Panama be transferred to Panamanian control, drastically reducing the American presence along the strategically important waterway.

The president has also called for the U.S. to assert control over Canada and the Danish territory of Greenland.

The Senate unanimously confirmed Rubio as secretary of state Monday with a vote of 99-0.

The State Department did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

AUTHOR

Thomas English

Contributor

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Trump Warns We’ll Take Back Control of Panama Canal

December 23, 2024/in Elections, Hot Topics, Must Read, National Security, News, Policy, Politics, Social Issues, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by The Geller Report

America is back. Trump slams unfair fees for US ships passing through the Panama Canal and threatens to demand control of the waterway be returned to Washington. America built it.

Read President Trump’s statement below.

Trump threatens to take back control of Panama Canal

By Breitbart, Dec 21st, 2024

Incoming US president Donald Trump on Saturday slammed what he called unfair fees for US ships passing through the Panama Canal and threatened to demand control of the waterway be returned to Washington.

He also hinted at China’s growing influence around the canal, a worrying trend for American interests as US businesses depend on the channel to move goods between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

“Our Navy and Commerce have been treated in a very unfair and injudicious way. The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous,” he said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

“This complete ‘rip-off’ of our Country will immediately stop.”

The Panama Canal, which was completed by the United States in 1914, was returned to the Central American country under a 1977 deal signed by Democratic president Jimmy Carter.

Continue reading.

AUTHOR

Geller Report Staff

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