Avdelning Vi underskattar betydelsen av Kina
In Beijing on a week-long trip to foster Chinese links with Panama and the rest of Latin America, Varela said on Monday that he hoped his trip would not only underline Panama’s support for Beijing’s “one-China” policy, but also signal that Panama welcomed China’s growing presence in the United States’ backyard.
“We think we have made the right decision to establish ties with China and we have been very transparent throughout the process,” he said to a small group of reporters.
“Undoubtedly, our decision would serve as a model for other countries to follow – which is that other countries will follow our example of supporting the one-China policy.
“I believe that the one-China consensus would be strengthened in other countries in the region.”
The one-China policy is a cross-strait understanding that there is only one China but Beijing and Taipei can have their own understanding of what one China is. For Beijing, it means there is only one sovereign state called China, and other countries must break with self-ruled Taipei to have full diplomatic ties with Beijing.
In June, Panama did just that, announcing it was establishing relations with China, the second-biggest user of the Panama Canal, and reducing Taipei to just 20 diplomatic allies, including Paraguay.
The move was a diplomatic coup for Beijing and turned up the pressure on Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a breakaway province.
A month before the two countries established diplomatic ties, a Chinese company called Landbridge Group sealed a deal to buy Panama’s biggest port, Margarita Island Port.
With that deal and US President Donald Trump’s more inward looking “America first” strategy, China is now angling to penetrate deep into Latin America with the renewed help from Panama.
Varela said China had amassed political, economic and social power and “we are willing to support China in continuing this path”.
The construction of a railway linking Panama and Costa Rica would also help connect China with the rest of the region, he said.
But Varela also said Panama’s relations with Washington and Beijing were not mutually exclusive.
“Because of the geographical position of Panama, we are a country that connects, we are neutral and we have a sovereign country,” he said.
“We do have a strategic alliance with the US, but … developing closer relations with China is in no conflict with our relations with the US.”
On Friday, Varela and Chinese President Xi Jinping witnessed the signing of 19 agreements, including plans to start talks on a bilateral free-trade agreement, cooperation on China’s “Belt and Road Initiative”, transport infrastructure, electricity, finance, tourism and agriculture.
While the US remains Latin America’s biggest trading partner overall, China is now the biggest trading partner for the major economies of Brazil, Chile and Peru, according to economist Angel Melguizo for the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
