The Chinese Foreign Ministry berated the administration of President Donald Trump, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in particular, on Friday for addressing the threat of Chinese regime influence during a tour to Central America and the Caribbean this week.
Rubio made his first international travel after being sworn into the top diplomat position a visit to Panama, followed by stops in El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic. The growing influence of the Chinese Communist Party in these countries was a prominent topic of discussion, particularly in Panama, where Chinese influence over the Panama Canal has become a top concern of Trump’s, and in Costa Rica, where the government is prosecuting executives with the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei.
Following Rubio’s visit, the government of Panama announced that it would allow the expiration of a memorandum of understanding with China that made Panama part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a global infrastructure program in which China offers predatory loans to vulnerable countries. The BRI was initially intended to rebuild the Ancient Silk Road that connected China to Western Europe, but genocidal dictator Xi Jinping has dramatically expanded its scope to include much of Africa and Latin America.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian denounced the Panamanian decision to exit the BRI as the result of a “smear and sabotage” campaign by Washington, announcing that Beijing would issue “serious protests” to American diplomats on the matter.
“China firmly opposes the U.S. smear and sabotage of Belt and Road cooperation through the means of pressuring and coercion,” Lin told reporters during his regular briefing on Friday, “and deeply regrets Panama’s decision to not renew the Memorandum of Understanding on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).”
“In recent years, China and Panama’s cooperation under the BRI has produced fruitful outcomes and continued to deliver tangibly for the two peoples,” he claimed. “We hope that Panama will bear in mind the overall bilateral relations and the long-term interests of the two peoples, steer clear of external interference and make the right decision.”
The state-run Global Times propaganda outlet shared more details from Lin’s comments exempt from the English-language translation of his briefing on Friday; the Chinese government often issues conflicting English-language translations of statements and articles issued in Mandarin.
“The groundless comments from the US, steeped in Cold-War mentality and ideological bias, are unfounded accusations against China aimed at sowing discord between China and relevant LAC countries,” the spokesman reportedly railed. “The US attack and disruption of cooperation under the BRI once again exposes their hegemonism. We firmly oppose the US smear and sabotage of the BRI cooperation.”
The spokesman went on to falsely claim that China does not “attach any strings” to BRI benefits or any deals with Latin America and accused Washington of having “no respect” for Latin America in response to sending Rubio, America’s first Hispanic-American secretary of state, to the region for Spanish-language discussions on issues of mutual concern.
The Global Times separately attacked Rubio in a column published Thursday, accusing him of “blatant coercion and intimidation” against America’s allies.
“US accusations are entirely baseless. Panama has repeatedly affirmed that there is no Chinese interference in the Canal’s operations,” the Times claimed. “The allegations regarding ‘Chinese interference’ appear to be nothing more than a carefully scripted political charade.”
The state propaganda outlet concluded that American allegations of Chinese malign influence were “little more than a reflection of its own behavior.”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry separately deployed its top diplomat in Panama this week, Xu Xueyuan, to write an op-ed in the local Estrella newspaper attacking the United States. The column – titled, “United States, Please, Learn to Respect,” called Rubio’s visit to the country more dangerous “than a tropical storm” and claimed that China “has never brought fear to Panama, but equality, respect, and mutual benefit.”
Xu nonetheless admitted that China “cannot adhere to the protocol of the Treaty of Neutrality of the Canal” in Panama because Taiwan is a signatory. Taiwan is a sovereign island nation off the coast of China that the Communist Party falsely claims as a “province.”
Rubio received a warm welcome in Panama from conservative President José Raúl Mulino, who won his presidential election last year in part on promises to curb illegal immigration to the United States. Mulino agreed to exit the BRI, a move that American media described as a victory for Rubio but would have likely happened anyway, as Panama’s participation in the predatory scheme resulted from the actions of previous leftist administrations.
The Chinese government has for years disparaged and legally targeted Rubio during his tenure in the Senate. The Communist Party banned then-Sen. Rubio (R-FL) from entering China in 2020, and imposed other sanctions on him, after he expressed support for the anti-communist protests in Hong Kong throughtout 2019.
“I don’t want to be paranoid but I am starting to think they don’t like me,” Rubio joked at the time.
The issue of potentially not being able to represent the United States in China arose during Rubio’s confirmation hearings.
“My role now as secretary of state is to lead the diplomatic wing of the country and that will involve engaging them,” Rubio said in January. “Yes, we are going to have to deal with China – what cannot continue to happen is that China continues to assume all of the benefits of the international system and none of its obligations.”
The Chinese government has not at press time invited Rubio to visit the country.
No comments:
Post a Comment