(Original title: "China and other Asian countries have too much demand", Panama: Let's change)

► Wen Observer Network Ruan Jiaqi

According to Hong Kong media "South China Morning Post" reported on the 18th, the Panamanian government announced on Tuesday that it will invest US $8.5 billion in the next decade to modernize and expand the Panama Canal.

According to the report, Pakistan's "Vision 2025-2035" strategy puts forward four priorities: building a new reservoir on the Indio River, building a 76-kilometer-long liquefied petroleum gas pipeline, building a new container terminal and expanding logistics channels.

Ricardo Vazquez Morales, Director of the Panama Canal Authority, said the reform and expansion project aims to ensure the competitiveness of the canal routes and to keep them in line with the changing global trade pattern.

He pointed out that current shipments of propane, butane and ethane exported from the U.S. Gulf Coast to Asian destinations such as China, Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam continue to rise. He predicts that the transportation demand for such energy products will double in the next decade, and if the canal capacity is not upgraded, Panama may cede the business to other competing routes.

The Panama Canal will be modernized and expanded

The South China Morning Post also mentioned that when the plan was announced, the ¡°neutrality¡± of the Panama Canal was facing a new round of review. Panama Canal Affairs Minister Jose Ramon Icaza said that neutrality is a ¡°global common value¡± and the canal will continue to serve ¡°without distinction¡± to all countries.

When asked whether Chinese companies would be allowed to participate in the franchise bidding for the new terminal, Basks declined to mention specific countries. He said, ¡°The selection criteria have not yet been determined. The Board of Directors will submit the standards to the Board of Directors, which will ultimately decide.¡±

Vazquez stressed that Panama should take quick action at a time when the global attention is focused on the Panama Canal. "In the past six or seven months, Panama's status as an international logistics hub has continued to be prominent."

¡°All discussions about ports and modes of transport, from Belgrade to the trends we see today, point to the fact that we are the neural hub of trade. Panama is at the center of media attention and at the heart of international dialogue, and this window of opportunity must never be missed.¡±

In addition, Vazquez pointed out that China's accession to the World Trade Organization laid the foundation for globalization and shaped the shipping pattern of the canal for decades, but this pattern "is now under pressure due to trade disputes".

He said, for example, that U.S. President Trump returned to the White House to provoke a global trade war, enterprises to move goods before tariffs entered into force, and the recent volume of goods sent from Asia to the United States has increased dramatically.

"The market is so volatile that it's hard to predict what will happen tomorrow," Vazquez said, "and this uncertainty makes it critical for the Canal to expand capacity and remain competitive."

Panama Canal Authority Director Vazquez delivered a speech

According to reports, the Panama Canal crosses the narrowest part of the strait between North America and South America, communicating the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

The United States completed construction of the Panama Canal in the early 20th century. The treaty signed by Pakistan and the United States in 1977 recognized Panama's sovereignty over the canal and canal zone, and the United States finally completely returned the canal to Panama on December 31, 1999.

Since winning the general election last November, Trump has repeatedly accused the Panama Canal of charging high charges on U.S. ships, threatening Panama to recover this ¡°important U.S. national asset¡±, while not forgetting China, vowing to fight China¡¯s influence here.

China has also repeatedly expressed its position. Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin½£ has responded that U.S. senior officials maliciously attacked China, blackmailed the undermining of China-Pakistan cooperation, once again exposed the face of U.S. hegemony, bullying, China has expressed its resolute opposition to this. for Hong Kong's Yangtze River and the planned sale of overseas port assets, the Chinese side also stressed that the Chinese government will carry out supervision in accordance with the law, resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security, development interests, safeguard market fairness and justice.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration hasn¡¯t hidden any concerns about the Panama Canal. In June this year, U.S. Defense Secretary Hegel appeared to have admitted at a congressional hearing that the Pentagon had developed plans to use ¡°force to seize¡± Greenland and Panama if necessary.

Politico earlier that U.S. actions have attracted widespread attention among the people of Panama, many of whom are angry at the government¡¯s obedience to Trump and satisfied with its uncertain attitude toward China.

"Trump asked Panama to break up with China, which triggered a strong rebound in Panama." After three weeks of local interviews, American media reporters found that the local people spoke highly of the relationship between Panama and China and believed that the friendship between the two countries had a long history.

The article said that although Trump came to power only for more than six months, but in a row on the Panama Canal, China relations and other issues, has put Panama President Muirino into a serious political situation. there are Panama politicians to say, "no country is more obedient to Trump than we are", and this "no bottom line compromise" is causing the people to become irritated.

China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations

On August 11, China's Permanent Representative at the United Nations at the High-Level Public Debate on Maritime Safety in the Security Council stressed that China has consistently respected Panama's sovereignty over the canal and recognized the status of the Panama Canal as a permanent neutral international waterway.

¡°I would also like to point out that America¡¯s hegemony and Cold War thinking and unilateral behavior are drastically boosting global maritime security risks. The United States has not yet joined the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and is unwilling to fulfill its obligations; ignoring international law and the International Bureau of Underwater Administration warns that it has unilaterally decided to develop international sea-bottom resources and seize the common property of all mankind; publicly threatening the normal operation of the Panama Canal and the Suez Canal, desperately challenging the sovereignty of other countries; will make maritime affairs more secure, hinder the construction of maritime infrastructure, undermine the industrial chain and supply chain stability.¡±