Latest news with #IgorPatrick
South China Morning Post
20-02-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
US Southcom head meets Panama Canal administrator to discuss countering China
Igor Patrick in Washington Published: 5:40am, 21 Feb 2025 A US military commander met with Panama Canal administrators on Thursday to discuss ways to 'counter Chinese Communist Party influence'over the critical waterway, the latest visit by a high-ranking American official to the trade channel that US President Donald Trump has said should be under Washington's control. Posting photos of the meeting between Alvin Holsey, the new head of US Southern Command [Southcom], and Ricaurte Vásquez, who has served at the Panama Canal's administrator since 2019, on social media, the US embassy in Panama added that the admiral discussed ways to 'protect and secure' the area around the waterway. Panama's president, who was warned about China's influence by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier this month, reacted with anger. The trip was Holsey's first to Panama since his promotion to Southcom commandership in November, after his predecessor Laura Richardson retired. Trump sparked a furore over the canal when he claimed during his inauguration speech in January that China controls the canal, which was funded by Washington in the early 20th century and controlled by US authorities until 1999. Rubio warned Mulino that Washington will 'take measures necessary' if Panama does not immediately take steps to rid the canal of Chinese interests, which he called a threat to the waterway and a violation of the US-Panama treaty that handed control of the channel back to the Central American country.
South China Morning Post
11-02-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
China's ‘top puppet' Elon Musk poses US national security risks: House Democrats
Igor Patrick , Robert Delaney and Bochen Han in Washington Published: 5:10am, 12 Feb 2025 Convened by a House subcommittee on transportation and maritime security, the hearing focused on how China's presence in ports in Panama , Peru and Brazil could affect Washington's interests in the region. US congressman Carlos Gimenez of Florida said Hong Kong -based company Hutchison Ports' operations in two ports on the Atlantic and Pacific sides of the Panama Canal gave Beijing 'a strategic position over one of the world's most important waterways'. '[It] provides the Communist Party with an opportunity to exert influence over commercial shipping, gather intelligence on American and allied vessel traffic and potentially restrict the mobility of our Navy in a time of crisis,' he said. 'The United States cannot and will not accept the scenario where a foreign adversary, one that openly seeks to undermine our global standing, controls infrastructure critical to us, homeland security, military readiness and economic stability,' Gimenez added.
South China Morning Post
31-01-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Eyeing China, Rubio makes Central America his first trip as top US diplomat
Igor Patrick in Washington and Mark Magnier in New York Published: 2:11am, 1 Feb 2025 US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will make his first international trip since taking office on Saturday, visiting five Central American countries – a first in more than a century for a top American diplomat's inaugural tour – as Washington moves to counter China's deepening influence in the region. Rubio will travel through Thursday to Panama , El Salvador , Costa Rica , Guatemala and the Dominican Republic and meet senior officials and business leaders to 'promote regional cooperation', according to the State Department. Rubio would also discuss 'shared interests' like curbing irregular migration, transnational crime, 'countering China and deepening economic partnerships to enhance prosperity in our hemisphere', it added. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters on Friday that the choice of destinations may raise eyebrows, given Washington 'tends to look' to Europe and Asia. In explaining Rubio's renewed focus on the region, Bruce cited the impact of decisions made by countries in the Americas on US domestic politics.
South China Morning Post
29-01-2025
- Automotive
- South China Morning Post
China carmakers merit dumping probe and tariffs: Brazil auto industry group
Igor Patrick in Washington Published: 7:10am, 30 Jan 2025 A group representing about 25 American, European, Japanese and South Korean carmakers in Brazil on Wednesday urged the Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva administration to investigate China's alleged dumping practices and slap tariffs on leading mainland auto brands BYD and Great Wall Motors . In a statement, Marcio de Lima Leite, president of Brazil's National Association of Automotive Vehicle Manufacturers (Anfavea), said the group had commissioned a study on the issue to 'defend fair competition and prevent practices that harm Brazil's automotive market'. The study would thus safeguard 'customers, employees, dealerships, manufacturers and the auto-parts industry', he added. Anfavea claimed that Chinese brands had created unfair competition conditions by benefiting from dumping – the practice of selling products below cost to undermine competitors in the long run. While the industry group's study would focus primarily on passenger vehicles, Anfavea also revealed plans to push for investigations into trucks, buses and agricultural machinery manufacturing. The association represents foreign carmakers with operations and manufacturing facilities in Brazil. Its members include Audi, BMW , Fiat, Ford , General Motors , Honda , Hyundai and Toyota , among others.
