China fumes at US as Panama exits Belt and Road initiative

BEIJING: China is opposed to U.S. “smearing and sabotage” of the Belt and Road Initiative in Panama through “pressure and coercion”, its foreign ministry said on Friday, after the South American nation decided to exit the programme.

At a regular press briefing, a ministry spokesperson, Lin Jian, said China deeply regretted Panama’s decision.

“We hope that Panama will make the right decision based on the overall situation of bilateral relations and the long-term interests of the two peoples, and eliminate external interference,” he added.

Panama has formally presented a document to exit the Belt and Road Initiative, President Jose Raul Mulino said on Thursday, after meeting U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio this month, but denied that the United States had sought the move.

More than 20 Latin American nations are among the more than 150 countries that have participated in the Belt and Road Initiative, with results benefited their people, Lin said.

China introduced the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013.

In November 2017, Panama became the first Latin American country to officially join, five months after switching diplomatic ties to China from Taiwan, the democratically governed island Beijing claims as its territory.

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said Panama has ceded control of the canal to China, an accusation both nations deny.

Meanwhile, Panama President Jose Raul Mulino said on Thursday the U.S. was spreading “lies and falsehoods” after the State Department claimed U.S. government vessels would be able to pass through the Panama Canal without paying.

The comments were likely to exacerbate tensions between the two countries after the U.S. had cited progress on military cooperation and confronting alleged Chinese influence over the canal.