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Panama Canal: Hillary Clinton Wrong on Chinese Control
In late February, NewsMax.com reported that "Hillary Clinton Rips Bill's Panama Ports Deal." The NewsMax report has not made the operators of the Panama Canal happy.
NewsMax received the following letter from the head of the Panama Canal Authority:
Dear Editor:
This pertains to a recent article printed in your publication on February 27, 2006, entitled "Hillary Clinton Rips Bill’s Panama Ports Deal.” The article pointed out that the Panama Canal is being run by the Chinese, which is completely inaccurate.
The Panama Canal is managed and operated by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), an autonomous agency of the government of Panama. Contrary to statements and reports that the Canal is run by the Chinese, neither the Government of China nor a private Chinese company has anything to do with the management, operation or function of the Canal.
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The Panama Canal is run by 9,000 dedicated and talented Panamanians who, for the past six years, have a stellar record improving and modernizing the Canal’s reliability, efficiency and safety. This past fiscal year, a record 279.1 million tons* of goods transited the Canal. All Panamanians are proud of these achievements.
The Dubai Ports World issue has brought up old and false rumors that the Canal is run by the Chinese. This began in 1999 after a Hong Kong firm won the rights to run two ports in Panama. The operation of ports is different, separate and unrelated from the Canal.
The Panama Canal is a national treasure – a part of the sovereign patrimony of the Republic of Panama – and the ACP is the sole manager and operator of this vital waterway. It is a Canal run by Panamanians for the people of Panama. Sincerely,
Dr. Stanley Muschett Manager of Executive Administration The Panama Canal Authority
NewsMax Responds: NewsMax's report correctly noted that as a result of a "1999 deal" . . . the goverment of Panama "let a Chinese company take over the ports at each end of the Panama Canal . . ." NewsMax never claimed that any Chinese company operated the canal itself. However, Sen. Clinton did make such a claim.
Speaking at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan, Clinton told the Jewish Community Relations Council: "There are those who say we can't [prevent foreign governments from operating U.S. ports] because look what happened in the last 20 years ... You know, we have the Chinese running the Panama Canal. We have other government-controlled entities controlling our ports." We encourage the Panama Canal Authority to contact Sen. Clinton to clarify her remarks. While China does not control the Canal, a Chinese-controlled entity called Hutchison-Whampoa has a subsidiary company, the Panama Ports Company. This company operates the ports Cristobal and Balboa located at each end of the Panama Canal. Some national security experts in the U.S. have argued that such control of the ports gives China strategic influence over the vital waterway.
Editor's note:
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