Since authoritarian China entered the era of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), its rogue behavior of reaping benefits without fulfilling its obligations has intensified.
On one hand, it enjoys the dividends of globalization, taking advantage of globalization to seize maximum economic benefits across the world. On the other, it is doing all it can to prevent the Chinese economy from truly integrating with globalization, accumulating strength in an attempt to subvert the international order. The Belt and Road Initiative is a weapon of China’s authoritarian expansion.
After China began to exchange its booming economic strength for international political influence, many foreign nations, especially small and medium-sized countries, have adopted an opportunist strategy of relying on the US for security and China for their economy.
Candidates in Taiwan’s 2020 and last year’s presidential elections also proposed similar ideas. However, this kind of strategy of exploiting loopholes and taking shortcuts lost its footing with US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Panama has always been a typical case of this kind of opportunistic strategy. While closely holding on to its geopolitical strategic interests with the US through the Panama Canal, Panama has also embraced China by joining the Belt and Road Initiative, taking China’s money and investments, and at the same time betraying the US’ major security interests.
This allowed authoritarian China to take control of a waterway affecting the global landscape, thereby gaining more bargaining chips in today’s geopolitical game.
This is precisely why US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Panama on his first trip soon after taking office — it is evident that the US attaches great importance to the issue. As soon as Rubio arrived in Panama, he bluntly told Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino that the US absolutely cannot accept China’s control over the operation of the Panama Canal, declaring that there is no longer any room for shuttling between the “new Cold War” camps.
After Rubio’s visit, Panama formally notified Beijing of its decision to withdraw from the Belt and Road Initiative, and Mullino emphasized that Panama would like to have more US investments and a closer cooperative relationship with Washington.
As for the US, it also stated that the US-Panama relationship is strong and they share multiple security interests — including safeguarding the Panama Canal.
In other words, Mulino said that he is choosing a side, and is willing to be more economically tied to the US than China.
The Trump administration began with Panama — a nation that is geopolitically closer to the US — rebuilding the rules and setting an example. This strategy would inevitably extend all the way to the farther reaches of the world, such as the EU, which would help it to ultimately face its strategic rival, China.
One of the strategies in Sun Zi’s (孫子) The Art of War (孫子兵法) is to “befriend a distant state and strike a neighboring one.” There would be a more dynamic interpretation of this strategy in Trump’s trade war.
The pro-China forces within Taiwan keep saying the nation cannot make an enemy of China, stressing that it is unable to fight Beijing, but if you think about it using their logic, does that mean Taiwan has to defy the US for the sake of China? Panama has seen the situation clearly. Will Taiwan?
Sheng I-che is the host of Face China.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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