Some Panamanian lawmakers fall prey to ploys

Instigated by US Ambassador to Panama Kevin Cabrera, on Tuesday some Panamanian lawmakers joined the “Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China” (IPAC). As its name suggests, the alliance is a cross-party body of parliamentarians that holds hostile attitudes toward China because of political bias and a Cold War mentality.

Cabrera said Panama’s lawmakers can use the IPAC to access US support to counter China’s “influence,” which he claimed was evident worldwide “from cyberattacks in Central European and Latin American countries to economic practices that generate significant debt for the countries.”

To back up his smears, Cabrera cited a case of a Chinese-owned company that allegedly owes the Panamanian government $600 million, a figure he said was confirmed by Panama’s Comptroller General. Yet this “debt” only appeared after Washington, citing a “China threat,” pressured the company to transfer to US entities the managerial rights of the Panama Canal. The company had contracted those rights from the Panamanian government in 1997 for 25 years, with another 25-year extension in 2021.

As Chinese Foreign Ministry spokespersons stressed in recent news conferences, China firmly opposes economic coercion, domineering, and bullying practices. Cabrera’s move is the latest proof of such US actions — a brazen attempt to drive a wedge between China and Panama. China and many in Panamanian society have condemned it. That only nine out of 71 members of Panama’s legislature took the bait shows most lawmakers have seen through US tricks.

The Chinese embassy in Panama said in a statement it is “despicable” for Washington to instigate some lawmakers to join IPAC and “tie them to the US’ anti-China chariot.”

Although IPAC calls itself a “neutral” nongovernmental cross-party alliance that claims to “defend democracy and human rights,” it is in fact an anti-China organization co-founded in 2020 by then US senator Marco Rubio, serving Washington’s agenda.

IPAC’s three major sponsors — Open Society Foundations, the US-funded National Endowment for Democracy, and the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy — are all active in financing anti-China projects around the world, including those targeting Xinjiang, Xizang and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

John Moolenaar, chair of the House Select Committee on China, succeeded Rubio as US co-chair of the group in April. On taking the post, he praised IPAC’s work, saying he was focused on addressing what he alleged were China’s efforts to “undermine democratic institutions and influence global policies.”

The formation of such anti-China cliques is a familiar US tactic to suppress and contain China. As the embassy spokesperson noted, IPAC spreads lies and rumors and has no credibility.

By concocting claims about China’s “control” over the Panama Canal and maligning China, Washington is simply seeking excuses to justify its own ambitions for canal control, to advance expansion and pursue its Monroe Doctrine.

In urging Panamanian lawmakers to join IPAC, the US envoy is carrying out his assigned mission. At a May news conference soon after his arrival, Cabrera said his primary focus would be combating “harmful influences” in the region, specifically labeling China as “an unsuitable ally” for Panama and the hemisphere.

It is absurd that the top US diplomat’s focus is undermining Panama’s relations with another sovereign nation. China-Panama ties benefit the country and its people and enjoy broad support across society.

The National Assembly of Panama represents the will of the people. Its members should keep national dignity in mind and avoid becoming pawns of US geopolitical interests. [Abridged]

Editorial, China Daily