Rubio warns Beijing may be using economic pressure to challenge Panama’s legal sovereignty following court ruling on key port concessions
Detentions of Panama-flagged vessels by China following a Panamanian court ruling have raised serious concerns about efforts to undermine the rule of law in the Latin American nation, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday.
The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission said last week it was closely monitoring a surge in detentions of Panama-flagged ships in China, which appears to be linked to a Panama court decision involving Hong Kong-based port operator CK Hutchison.
“China’s recent actions against Panama-flagged vessels raise serious concerns about the use of economic tools to undermine the rule of law in Panama, a sovereign nation and vital partner for global commerce,” Rubio said in a statement.
Panama’s Supreme Court in late January invalidated the legal framework underpinning the 1997 concession that granted CK Hutchison’s Panama Ports Company the right to operate the Balboa and Cristobal terminals on the Pacific and Atlantic sides of the Panama Canal.
Beijing said it firmly opposed the ruling against CK Hutchison’s port concessions, describing it as an “act of bad faith.”
