Panamanian lawmakers' Taiwan trip sparks diplomatic row with China

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PANAMA CITY (AP) — A planned trip by some Panamanian lawmakers to Taiwan has unleashed the latest diplomatic spat with China as the Central American country tries to navigate the turbulent waters between the Asian superpower and the United States.

On Wednesday, Panama’s Foreign Relations Ministry and the U.S. ambassador to the country criticized China’s diplomats in Panama for asking the lawmakers to cancel their trip to Taiwan, with the ministry accusing the Chinese Embassy of “meddling” in internal Panamanian affairs.

This followed comments from Panama President José Raúl Mulino a week earlier saying that the planned Taiwan trip did not have the approval of his administration and reminding the lawmakers that the executive branch was responsible for Panama’s foreign policy.

China claims Taiwan, a self-governing island off its coast, as its territory and has staged threatening military drills in the surrounding waters in recent years. In Latin America, Chinese diplomats have worked to get governments to establish diplomatic relations with it and cut ties to Taiwan.

Panama established relations with China in 2017 after breaking them off with Taiwan.

The Trump administration has brought the weight of the U.S. government to bear on the issue this year, starting with accusations that China could influence the operations of the strategically important Panama Canal because a Hong Kong-based conglomerate held the long-term concession to operate ports at either end of the canal. The canal’s administration and the Panamanian government have denied that China had any sway over canal operations.

On Wednesday, Panama’s Foreign Relations Ministry said in a statement that “as a sovereign country, it does not accept restrictions, nor pressure that tries to influence the legitimate decisions of its subordinates.” The statement did not name China, but came a day after one of the country’s largest newspapers, La Prensa, reported that 10 lawmakers were asked by the Chinese Embassy to immediately cancel the trip because it “seriously violates the principle of one China” and constitutes “an intervention in Chinese internal affairs.”

The Chinese Embassy referred a request from The Associated Press to the reporting from La Prensa.

Mulino has lamented that Panama has been drawn into the U.S.-China tensions.

When Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Panama on his first trip as the U.S. top diplomat in February, he made China’s influence a top issue. Mulino said then that Panama would not be renewing its agreement with China’s Belt and Road Initiative when it expires. The initiative promotes and funds infrastructure and development projects that critics say leave poor member countries heavily indebted to China.

In August, U.S. Ambassador to Panama Kevin Marino Cabrera gave public backing to Panamanian lawmakers who joined the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, a group of hundreds of lawmakers from dozens of countries concerned about how democracies approach Beijing.

In September, the Trump administration said it was restricting visas “for Central American nationals who, while in Central American countries and intentionally acting on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), knowingly direct, authorize, fund, provide significant support to, or carry out activities that undermine the rule of law in Central America.”

Some of the lawmakers who planned to make the Taiwan trip later this week defended their decision. Some said the trip would expose them to models and experiences that could help Panama’s modernization, others cited opportunities for investment and cooperation.

On Wednesday, Cabrera addressed the controversy, saying that China’s Embassy “shouldn’t be involved in those issues.”