CHINA AND PANAMA have made friends again. But the deal was made behind closed doors, so no one knows the details.
Story so far: After pressure from Donald Trump, Panama ousted a Hong Kong conglomerate from its job as the main terminal operators at the Panama Canal, shocking the global shipping industry. Hong Kong-owned Panama Ports Company is seeking US$2 billion in compensation.
China became more stringent in safety checks and raised the number of Panama-flagged vessels detained at its ports. Almost 500 were detained this year.
Worried shippers changed alliance, with 264 cargo ships removing their Panama flags in June alone, Lloyd’s List reported. This was a huge blow to the small country.
But the Panama leadership visited Beijing on July 16-17 and struck a deal.
Things appear to have returned to normal. In the first three weeks of July, China detained just 17 Panama ships, Lloyd’s List reported. This figure is close to the rate in the past, when an average of 21 ships were halted after failing inspections.
Panama is breathing a sigh of relief.
China is keeping quiet about what it gets out of the deal.
And Washington, which created the problem? It’s left in the dark.
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🇨🇳 Conmoción en China por el robo de extranjeros
En China, no es extraño que los comerciantes dejen sus puestos desatendidos, ya que, si alguien quiere llevarse algún producto, siempre lo hace abonando dinero mediante el código QR.
Estos extranjeros aprovecharon que no había nadie para robar fruta.
Usuarios chinos en redes pidieron prohibir la entrada a extranjeros sin educación previa.