In recent weeks, President Donald Trump has repeatedly asserted that China "operates" the Panama Canal and has threatened to retake it in order to stop what he perceives to be Beijing's growing might.
The US continues to be the canal's primary user, according to a BBC Verify investigation, but Chinese participation in infrastructure projects surrounding the waterway, which Panama directly operates, has increased recently.
Every year, up to 14,000 ships travel the 51-mile (82-kilometer) route. It avoids an otherwise drawn-out and expensive journey around South America by connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans across the Central American nation.
The waterway reduces the time it takes for commodities to move between San Francisco and New York or from Shenzhen, China, to the east coast of the United States by weeks.
Chinese businesses were more active along the canal when Panama joined the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2017, which is a global infrastructure investment initiative by Beijing. Under pressure from the US, Panama dissolved the relationship earlier this month.
However, Chinese dominance over ports that existed before the BRI has been the main target of Trump's ire.
An illustration of the Panama Canal, which spans Panama and connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans Along with Rodman and Baboa at the Pacific end, the ports of Colon, Manzanillo, and Cristóbal at the Atlantic end are emphasized. To the right of the canal, on the Pacific shore, is Panama City.
The Panama Canal is surrounded by five container ports. They are all run by international businesses.
The image's highlights shift to display the three ports of Rodman near the Pacific and Colon and Manzanillo near the Atlantic.
Companies with headquarters in Singapore, Taiwan, and the US run Colon, Rodman, and Manzanillo, the three largest container ports along the canal.
The map shows Balboa at the Pacific Ocean end and Cristóbal at the Atlantic Ocean end.
However, the two largest, Cristóbal and Balboa, have received the majority of US attention.
The map shows Balboa at the Pacific Ocean end and Cristóbal at the Atlantic Ocean end.
A subsidiary of CK Hutchison Holdings, a company based in Hong Kong, has been running them since 1997. They are located at either end of the canal.
Despite being a private company with its headquarters outside of China's mainland, experts warned the BBC that in the case of a conflict, China might be able to exert control over Hong Kong-based businesses according to a 2020 national security law.
Henry Ziemer, an Americas specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told the BBC, "I'm skeptical as to whether there's a direct line between Beijing and CK Hutchison in terms of the day-to-day, but in a time of crisis or a conflict it would be relatively trivial for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to say we're going to use the ports."
Gen. Laura J. Richardson, the former leader of the US military's southern command, shared this opinion. In 2023, she informed legislators that "the PRC [China] could use strategic regional ports to restrict US naval and commercial ship access in any potential global conflict."
According to his company website, Victor Li Tzar-kuoi, the chairman of CK Hutchison, is a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference's (CPPCC) national committee.
With thousands of members, the CPPCC is China's premier political advisory organization and a member of the "United Front System," which supports government power both at home and abroad. Top corporate executives are typically among its members. CK Hutchison Holdings was contacted by BBC Verify for comment.
Chinese businesses have been active in projects surrounding the canal, with one significant bridge project garnering some attention, while Trump has concentrated on Balboa and Cristóbal.
Currently, the canal is crossed by three bridges at different locations.
The Bridge of the Americas as seen from space in March 2024
The new Fourth Bridge, which will link Panama City and West Panama, is being constructed by a Chinese company just north of the Bridge of the Americas. The location in March 2024 is this.
The Bridge of the Americas as seen from space in March 2024
Delays have plagued the agreement, which the news agency Reuters estimated was worth roughly $1.42 billion.
Progress on a new bridge being built over mud flats is shown in this satellite image of the Bridge of the Americas taken in January 2025.
However, satellite photos taken in the last year reveal that the bridge's construction has accelerated, as shown above in January 2025.
Concerns have been expressed by US officials regarding the project's use of Chinese companies. The "partially-completed bridge gives China the ability to block the canal without warning," according to Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who did not specify how he believed the bridge could be utilized as a barrier.
In 2019, then-Panama president Juan Carlos Varela visits the Fourth Bridge Project site.
The Amador Cruise Terminal off the Pacific Ocean is highlighted on a map of the Panama Canal.
The Amador Cruise Terminal, constructed on the Pacific side of the canal by the China Harbour Engineering Company, is one of the other significant constructions.
Just off the Pacific Ocean shore, a dotted line on a diagram of the Panama Canal indicates the expansion of the Panama City Metro.
Additionally, the China Railway Tunnel Group Company is building an extension to the Panama City Metro that will pass beneath the canal's southern end.
However, Panamanian authorities have put a number of other well-known Chinese-led projects on hold, even though these initiatives reflect some Chinese interests surrounding the canal.
According to Eddie Tapiero, an economist based in Panama, around half of the projects started after Panama joined the BRI have been halted or canceled.
Isla Margarita, which is located off the Atlantic Ocean, is highlighted on a Panama Canal map.
A significant project to build a new port on Isla Margarita, on the Caribbean side of the canal, was shelved in 2022.
A rail line that runs 243 miles (391 km) between Panama City and David is highlighted on a map of the Panama Canal.
After a new government took office in Panama, plans to build a high-speed rail route across the country from Panama City to David in the west were likewise shelved.
The map shows the location of the Chinese embassy, which is right off the Pacific Ocean.
Additionally, in 2018, plans to construct a new Chinese embassy on the Amador Causeway Islands, which are located at the canal's gates, were shelved.
According to experts who talked to the BBC, China's influence over infrastructure has mostly grown to cover a void left by the US in the area.
In contrast to Chinese competitors, who he claimed were typically eager to lend financing when pursuing business, Mr. Tapiero told BBC Verify that US corporations were usually indifferent or uncompetitive in bidding processes.
Similar conclusions are drawn from data on foreign direct investment (FDI), or the sum of money that nations invest in one another.
While US investments have decreased over the same period, China's investment in Panama in 2023 totaled $1.4 billion, a fourfold increase from the BRI's inception in 2017.
The US continues to be the canal's primary user, according to a BBC Verify investigation, but Chinese participation in infrastructure projects surrounding the waterway, which Panama directly operates, has increased recently.
Every year, up to 14,000 ships travel the 51-mile (82-kilometer) route. It avoids an otherwise drawn-out and expensive journey around South America by connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans across the Central American nation.
The waterway reduces the time it takes for commodities to move between San Francisco and New York or from Shenzhen, China, to the east coast of the United States by weeks.
Chinese businesses were more active along the canal when Panama joined the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2017, which is a global infrastructure investment initiative by Beijing. Under pressure from the US, Panama dissolved the relationship earlier this month.
However, Chinese dominance over ports that existed before the BRI has been the main target of Trump's ire.
An illustration of the Panama Canal, which spans Panama and connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans Along with Rodman and Baboa at the Pacific end, the ports of Colon, Manzanillo, and Cristóbal at the Atlantic end are emphasized. To the right of the canal, on the Pacific shore, is Panama City.
The Panama Canal is surrounded by five container ports. They are all run by international businesses.
The image's highlights shift to display the three ports of Rodman near the Pacific and Colon and Manzanillo near the Atlantic.
Companies with headquarters in Singapore, Taiwan, and the US run Colon, Rodman, and Manzanillo, the three largest container ports along the canal.
The map shows Balboa at the Pacific Ocean end and Cristóbal at the Atlantic Ocean end.
However, the two largest, Cristóbal and Balboa, have received the majority of US attention.
The map shows Balboa at the Pacific Ocean end and Cristóbal at the Atlantic Ocean end.
A subsidiary of CK Hutchison Holdings, a company based in Hong Kong, has been running them since 1997. They are located at either end of the canal.
Despite being a private company with its headquarters outside of China's mainland, experts warned the BBC that in the case of a conflict, China might be able to exert control over Hong Kong-based businesses according to a 2020 national security law.
Henry Ziemer, an Americas specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told the BBC, "I'm skeptical as to whether there's a direct line between Beijing and CK Hutchison in terms of the day-to-day, but in a time of crisis or a conflict it would be relatively trivial for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to say we're going to use the ports."
Gen. Laura J. Richardson, the former leader of the US military's southern command, shared this opinion. In 2023, she informed legislators that "the PRC [China] could use strategic regional ports to restrict US naval and commercial ship access in any potential global conflict."
According to his company website, Victor Li Tzar-kuoi, the chairman of CK Hutchison, is a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference's (CPPCC) national committee.
With thousands of members, the CPPCC is China's premier political advisory organization and a member of the "United Front System," which supports government power both at home and abroad. Top corporate executives are typically among its members. CK Hutchison Holdings was contacted by BBC Verify for comment.
Chinese businesses have been active in projects surrounding the canal, with one significant bridge project garnering some attention, while Trump has concentrated on Balboa and Cristóbal.
Currently, the canal is crossed by three bridges at different locations.
The Bridge of the Americas as seen from space in March 2024
The new Fourth Bridge, which will link Panama City and West Panama, is being constructed by a Chinese company just north of the Bridge of the Americas. The location in March 2024 is this.
The Bridge of the Americas as seen from space in March 2024
Delays have plagued the agreement, which the news agency Reuters estimated was worth roughly $1.42 billion.
Progress on a new bridge being built over mud flats is shown in this satellite image of the Bridge of the Americas taken in January 2025.
However, satellite photos taken in the last year reveal that the bridge's construction has accelerated, as shown above in January 2025.
Concerns have been expressed by US officials regarding the project's use of Chinese companies. The "partially-completed bridge gives China the ability to block the canal without warning," according to Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who did not specify how he believed the bridge could be utilized as a barrier.
In 2019, then-Panama president Juan Carlos Varela visits the Fourth Bridge Project site.
The Amador Cruise Terminal off the Pacific Ocean is highlighted on a map of the Panama Canal.
The Amador Cruise Terminal, constructed on the Pacific side of the canal by the China Harbour Engineering Company, is one of the other significant constructions.
Just off the Pacific Ocean shore, a dotted line on a diagram of the Panama Canal indicates the expansion of the Panama City Metro.
Additionally, the China Railway Tunnel Group Company is building an extension to the Panama City Metro that will pass beneath the canal's southern end.
However, Panamanian authorities have put a number of other well-known Chinese-led projects on hold, even though these initiatives reflect some Chinese interests surrounding the canal.
According to Eddie Tapiero, an economist based in Panama, around half of the projects started after Panama joined the BRI have been halted or canceled.
Isla Margarita, which is located off the Atlantic Ocean, is highlighted on a Panama Canal map.
A significant project to build a new port on Isla Margarita, on the Caribbean side of the canal, was shelved in 2022.
A rail line that runs 243 miles (391 km) between Panama City and David is highlighted on a map of the Panama Canal.
After a new government took office in Panama, plans to build a high-speed rail route across the country from Panama City to David in the west were likewise shelved.
The map shows the location of the Chinese embassy, which is right off the Pacific Ocean.
Additionally, in 2018, plans to construct a new Chinese embassy on the Amador Causeway Islands, which are located at the canal's gates, were shelved.
According to experts who talked to the BBC, China's influence over infrastructure has mostly grown to cover a void left by the US in the area.
In contrast to Chinese competitors, who he claimed were typically eager to lend financing when pursuing business, Mr. Tapiero told BBC Verify that US corporations were usually indifferent or uncompetitive in bidding processes.
Similar conclusions are drawn from data on foreign direct investment (FDI), or the sum of money that nations invest in one another.
While US investments have decreased over the same period, China's investment in Panama in 2023 totaled $1.4 billion, a fourfold increase from the BRI's inception in 2017.
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