Marco Rubio just issued a sharp warning to China, declaring that “the sovereignty of our hemisphere is non-negotiable” after the U.S. and five Latin American allies accused Beijing of detaining Panama-flagged ships in a dispute over control of the Panama Canal. The confrontation by the Secretary of State escalated into a full-blown showdown over one of the world’s most critical commercial arteries, with both sides accusing the other of politicizing maritime trade.
The joint statement from the U.S., Bolivia, Costa Rica, Guyana, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago called China’s actions a “blatant attempt to politicize maritime trade” and a direct threat to regional sovereignty. The dispute centers on Panama’s Supreme Court decision to invalidate the legal framework behind Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison’s control of the Balboa and Cristobal terminals which flank the canal and handle roughly 5% of global maritime trade.
