{"id":828484,"date":"2025-02-20T12:12:36","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T18:12:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/20\/china-lashes-out-at-us-coercion-after-panama-declines-to-renew-infrastructure-agreement\/"},"modified":"2025-02-20T12:12:36","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T18:12:36","slug":"china-lashes-out-at-us-coercion-after-panama-declines-to-renew-infrastructure-agreement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/20\/china-lashes-out-at-us-coercion-after-panama-declines-to-renew-infrastructure-agreement\/","title":{"rendered":"China lashes out at US \u2018coercion\u2019 after Panama declines to renew infrastructure agreement"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBy: The Associated Press<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span>Posted: <strong><time datetime=\"2025-02-07 03:23:12\">3:23 AM CST Friday, Feb. 7, 2025<\/time><\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\tLast Modified: <time datetime=\"2025-02-07 22:24:59\">10:24 PM CST Friday, Feb. 7, 2025<\/time><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>BEIJING (AP) \u2014 China on Friday lashed out at what it called U.S. \u201ccoercion\u201d after Panama declined to renew a key infrastructure agreement with Beijing following Washington\u2019s threat to take back the Panama Canal.<\/p>\n<p>Read this article for free:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>To continue reading, please subscribe:<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<h4>Monthly Digital Subscription<\/h4>\n<p><strong>$1 per week for 24 weeks<\/strong>*<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com<\/li>\n<li>Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper<\/li>\n<li>Access News Break, our award-winning app<\/li>\n<li>Play interactive puzzles<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><small>*Billed as $4 plus GST every four weeks. Offer only available to new and qualified returning subscribers. Cancel any time.<\/small><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>BEIJING (AP) \u2014 China on Friday lashed out at what it called U.S. \u201ccoercion\u201d after Panama declined to renew a key infrastructure agreement with Beijing following Washington\u2019s threat to take back the Panama Canal.<\/p>\n<p>Read unlimited articles for free today:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>BEIJING (AP) \u2014 China on Friday lashed out at what it called U.S. \u201ccoercion\u201d after Panama declined to renew a key infrastructure agreement with Beijing following Washington\u2019s threat to take back the Panama Canal.<\/p>\n<p>Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a briefing that China \u201cfirmly opposes the U.S. smearing and undermining the Belt and Road cooperation through means of pressure and coercion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Assistant Foreign Minister Zhao Zhiyuan also met Panama\u2019s ambassador to China and lodged solemn representations on Friday, the Foreign Ministry said Saturday.<\/p>\n<figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/9de050996f407afee7366fce4a2c0fdeac948292d943ea641656bcde95bf7815.jpg?w=1000\" data-pswp-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/9de050996f407afee7366fce4a2c0fdeac948292d943ea641656bcde95bf7815.jpg?w=320 320w, https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/9de050996f407afee7366fce4a2c0fdeac948292d943ea641656bcde95bf7815.jpg?w=600 600w, https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/9de050996f407afee7366fce4a2c0fdeac948292d943ea641656bcde95bf7815.jpg?w=1920 1920w\" data-pswp-width=\"1024\" data-pswp-height=\"682\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/9de050996f407afee7366fce4a2c0fdeac948292d943ea641656bcde95bf7815.jpg?w=1000\" alt=\"Cargo containers sit stacked as cranes load and unload containers from cargo ships at the Cristobal port, operated by the Panama Ports Company, in Colon, Tuesday, Panama, Feb. 4, 2025. (AP Photo\/Matias Delacroix)\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><figcaption>Cargo containers sit stacked as cranes load and unload containers from cargo ships at the Cristobal port, operated by the Panama Ports Company, in Colon, Tuesday, Panama, Feb. 4, 2025. (AP Photo\/Matias Delacroix)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Belt and Road Initiative is President Xi Jinping\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p>Panama\u2019s decision to walk away from it was seen as a concession to the U.S. over the canal after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Panamanian leader Jos\u00e9 Ra\u00fal 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.<\/p>\n<p>Mulino has rejected pressure from the new U.S. government to discuss ownership of a waterway that is vital to global trade.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Lin said the Belt and Road Initiative has brought \u201cactive participation\u201d from over 150 countries and that it has brought \u201cfruitful results\u201d to Panama and China, but gave no examples.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe 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,\u201d Lin said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\t<a href=\"http:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/javascript:window.print();\" title=\"Print China lashes out at US \u2018coercion\u2019 after Panama declines to renew infrastructure agreement\"><i><\/i> Print<\/a>\n\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"mailto:?subject=China lashes out at US \u2018coercion\u2019 after Panama declines to renew infrastructure agreement - via the Winnipeg Free Press&#038;body=https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/business\/2025\/02\/07\/china-lashes-out-at-us-coercion-after-panama-declines-to-renew-infrastructure-agreement\" title=\"Share by Email\" target=\"_blank\"><i><\/i> Email<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t<a title=\"Bookmark\" href=\"http:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/#\"><span><i><\/i><i><\/i><\/span> Read Later<\/a>\n\t<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> The Associated Press<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/business\/2025\/02\/07\/china-lashes-out-at-us-coercion-after-panama-declines-to-renew-infrastructure-agreement\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By: The Associated Press Posted: 3:23 AM CST Friday, Feb. 7, 2025 Last Modified: 10:24 PM CST Friday, Feb. 7, 2025 BEIJING (AP) \u2014 China on Friday lashed out at what it called U.S. \u201ccoercion\u201d after Panama declined to renew a key infrastructure agreement with Beijing following Washington\u2019s threat to take back the Panama Canal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":828485,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1827,2612],"tags":[6052,7063],"class_list":{"0":"post-828484","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-china","8":"category-lashes","9":"tag-china","10":"tag-lashes"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=828484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/828485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=828484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=828484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=828484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}