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Beijing’s efforts to expand its influence in the country have faced several obstacles due to U. S. pressure.
By Vivian Wang
Report from Beijing
There was talk of a high-speed rail line that China would build in Panama. A new subway line in Panama City. A modern container port.
China has worked for years to build ties and exert influence in Panama, as part of its broader ambition to expand its presence in Latin America. This effort has had some successes, but also many setbacks.
In 2017, China won a first victory when Panama broke diplomatic relations with Taiwan, the autonomous island that China claims as its territory, and instead identified Beijing. Panama is one of the few countries in the world that recognizes Taiwan as a sovereign state.
The following year, Panama became the first Latin American country to sign onto the Belt and Road Initiative, the Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s signature global infrastructure program, which is aimed at enlarging China’s geopolitical heft and countering American influence.
A flurry of ambitious promises followed. China proposed to build a 250-mile high-speed rail line from Panama City, the capital, toward the western border with Costa Rica. It offered to help build a new subway line in Panama City. A consortium of Chinese companies, led by the conglomerate Landbridge, began developing a container port that was promised to be Panama’s most modern one.
A Chinese state-owned company also won a $1. 4 billion contract to build a fourth bridge over the Panama Canal. In the end, the two countries said they would negotiate a flexible industrial agreement.
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