Far from random, China’s global port network is clustering near the world’s riskiest trade routes

The silhouettes of the container cranes in the Port of Balboa in Panama City on Feb. 24, 2026. Martin Bernetti/ AFP via Getty Images

In late February 2026, the Panamanian government took control of two ports in the Panama Canal that had been operated by a Hong Kong conglomerate for two decades. The move is the latest in a long-simmering legal battle after Panama’s high court voided the company’s contracts.

Far from just a local dispute, however, the episode has drawn in the United States and China, whose competition over global ports and trade routes has intensified in recent years, including in the crucial Panama Canal Zone, where China’s presence has repeatedly drawn the ire of the Trump administration.