The spat between the US and China over Panama’s canal ports flared back up Wednesday, weeks before a high-stakes meeting of the countries’ leaders.
Washington’s top diplomat accused China of a “blatant attempt to politicize maritime trade” after Beijing briefly detained dozens of Panama-flagged ships in Chinese ports.
The US earlier this month said China was “bullying” vessels in retaliation for Panama’s seizure of two canal ports from a Hong Kong-based company’s subsidiary earlier this year.
The Trump administration has made dominance in the Western Hemisphere a foreign policy priority, and Panama in particular has been caught in the middle.
Both superpowers are hunting for leverage ahead of the meeting next month; China recently blocked a major cross-border tech deal.
In blocking Meta-Manus deal, China sent a powerful reminder to Mark Zuckerberg and U.S. market about AI race.
China’s decision to block Meta’s $2 billion of Manus, a Singapore-based artificial intelligence startup with Chinese roots, is no surprise for those who understand the evolution in how the Chinese Communist Party under Xi Jinping is defining technology as part of national security.
Semafor
