MEXICO CITY: In the wake of tensions with the United States over the Panama Canal, Panama is abandoning its participation in China’s Belt and Road infrastructure development initiative, Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino said on Thursday, according to the German news agency dpa.
The Chinese side has already been informed of the withdrawal from the project, Mulino said.
The initiative sometimes known as the New Silk Road refers to various trade and infrastructure cooperation projects between China and more than 150 countries around the world.
Panama’s withdrawal from the initiative was entirely its own decision, Mulino explained, saying that his country had hardly profited from the project.
“What has it brought Panama in all these years?” Mulino said at a press conference.
The new US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, travelled to Panama over the weekend to underline President Donald Trump’s claims to the Panama Canal. He also said that China’s influence on the global waterway was unacceptable.
China rejected the accusations and expressed regret at the possibility of Panama pulling out of the prestigious project. If Panama were to reduce its cooperation with China under US pressure, this would be an “regrettable decision”, Chinese UN Ambassador Fu Cong said in New York.
