Latest news with #Panama-controlled
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
China could sink entire US carrier fleet in 20 minutes, Pentagon chief warns
In a rare admission, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said that the Chinese hypersonic missiles can destroy all US aircraft carriers in just 20 minutes. 'So far our [US] whole power projection platform is aircraft carrier and the ability to project power that way strategically around the globe,' said Hegseth in a recent interview. However, Hegseth added that China's 15 hypersonic missiles 'can take out 10 aircraft carriers in the first 20 minutes of the conflict,' added Hegseth. Hegseth said that the US 'loses to China in every war game' run by the Pentagon. 'China is building an army specifically designed to destroy the US.' Hegseth blamed the US bureaucracy and slow rate of weapon acquisition for China's growing edge in the conflicts with the US. The US Defense Secretary also noted China's risk to the Panama Canal, an artificial 82-kilometer (50.9 miles) Panama waterway connecting the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. According to Sobel Shipping Network, approximately 40% of US container traffic relies on this route annually, with the United States as the canal's largest user. In 2021, over 73% of all vessels transiting the canal were destined for or departing from US ports. Since Panama's 2017 diplomatic recognition of China over Taiwan, Beijing has expanded its regional presence, investing heavily in infrastructure projects near the canal. China's influence includes control over ports at both ends of the canal through Hutchison Ports PPC, a Hong Kong-based company with ties to Beijing. Hegseth admitted, 'China poses an ongoing threat to the Panama Canal, but together the United States and Panama will keep it secure.' A joint deal, signed by top security officials from the US and Panama in early April, allows military personnel from the US to deploy to Panama-controlled facilities for training, exercises, and a range of other activities. Since returning to power in January, US President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that China has too much influence over the canal. With this latest deal, his administration planned to "take back" control of the United States' strategic waterway funded, built, and controlled until 1999. According to a US Department of Defense (DoD) report published in December 2024, China's hypersonic missile technologies have greatly advanced during the past 20 years. Many PRC missile programs are comparable to other international top-tier producers. China's deployment of the DF-17 hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV)-armed medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) will continue to transform the People's Liberation Army's (PLA's) missile force, the DoD added. The system, which was fielded in 2020, may replace some older short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) units and be used to strike foreign military bases and fleets in the Western Pacific. The DF-27 may have an HGV payload option in addition to conventional land-attack, antiship, and nuclear payloads. Official Chinese military writings indicate this range class spans 5,000–8,000 km (3,107–4,971 miles), designating the DF-27 as an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), and the local media indicates that it can potentially range as far as Alaska and Hawaii. On July 27, 2021, China tested an ICBM-range HGV that traveled 40,000 km (24,854 miles). In April 2019, the PLA Navy revealed during its 70th-anniversary celebration that its new guided-missile cruiser can employ long-range, land-attack cruise missiles and, in 2022, launched the YJ-21 hypersonic missile designed to defeat aircraft carriers. According to the DoD, China has the world's leading hypersonic missile arsenal and has dramatically advanced its development of conventional and nuclear-armed hypersonic missile technologies.
LBCI
11-04-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
Panama deal allows US to deploy troops to canal
U.S. troops will be able to deploy to a string of bases along the Panama Canal under a joint deal seen by AFP Thursday, a major concession to President Donald Trump as he seeks to reestablish influence over the vital waterway. The agreement, signed by top security officials from both countries, allows U.S. military personnel to deploy to Panama-controlled facilities for training, exercises, and "other activities." The deal stops short of allowing the United States to build its permanent bases on the isthmus, a move that would be deeply unpopular with Panamanians and legally fraught. AFP
Asharq Al-Awsat
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Panama Deal Allows US to Deploy Troops to Canal
US troops will be able to deploy to a string of bases along the Panama Canal under a joint deal seen by AFP Thursday, a major concession to President Donald Trump as he seeks to reestablish influence over the vital waterway. The agreement, signed by top security officials from both countries, allows US military personnel to deploy to Panama-controlled facilities for training, exercises and "other activities." The deal stops short of allowing the United States to build its own permanent bases on the isthmus, a move that would be deeply unpopular with Panamanians and legally fraught. But it gives the United States broad sway to deploy an unspecified number of personnel to bases, some of which Washington built when it occupied the canal zone decades ago. Trump, since returning to power in January, has repeatedly claimed that China has too much influence over the canal, which handles about 40 percent of US container traffic and five percent of world trade. His administration has vowed to "take back" control of the strategic waterway that the United States funded, built and controlled until 1999. The United States has long participated in military exercises in Panama. However, a longer-term rotational force -- such as the one the United States maintains in Darwin, Australia -- could prove politically toxic for Panama's center-right leader Jose Raul Mulino. 'Country on fire' Mulino was on Thursday in Peru, where he revealed that the United States had asked to have its own bases. Mulino said he had told visiting Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth that US bases, allowed under an earlier draft, would be "unacceptable." He warned Hegseth: "Do you want to create a mess, what we've put in place here would set the country on fire." In the watered-down "Memorandum of Understanding", signed by Hegseth and Panama's security chief Frank Abrego Wednesday, Panama won its own concessions. The United States recognized Panama's sovereignty -- not a given following Trump's refusal to rule out an invasion -- and Panama will retain control over any installations. Panama will also have to agree to any deployments. But given Trump's willingness to rip up or rewrite trade deals, treaties and agreements, that might offer little comfort to worried Panamanians. "What we have here is a setback to national sovereignty," Panamanian trade union leader Saul Mendez told AFP. "What the Panamanian government has done is an act of treason. They are traitors and must be tried." Difficult history The country has a long and difficult relationship with the United States. They have close cultural and economic ties, despite the decades-long US occupation of the canal zone and US invasion 35 years ago to overthrow dictator Manuel Noriega. That invasion killed more than 500 Panamanians and razed parts of the capital. Trump's vow to take back the canal, and his claim of Chinese influence have prompted mass demonstrations. By law, Panama operates the canal, giving access to all nations. But the US president has zeroed in on the role of a Hong Kong company that has operated ports at either end of the canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans for decades. Under pressure from the White House, Panama has accused the Panama Ports Company of failing to meet its contractual obligations and pushed for the firm to pull out of the country. The ports' parent company CK Hutchison announced last month a deal to offload 43 ports in 23 countries -- including its two on the Panama Canal -- to a consortium led by US asset manager BlackRock for $19 billion in cash. A furious Beijing has since announced an antitrust review of the deal.
Al Arabiya
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Panama deal allows US to deploy troops to canal
US troops will be able to deploy to a string of bases along the Panama Canal under a joint deal seen by AFP Thursday, a major concession to President Donald Trump as he seeks to reestablish influence over the vital waterway. The agreement, signed by top security officials from both countries, allows US military personnel to deploy to Panama-controlled facilities for training, exercises and 'other activities.' The deal stops short of allowing the United States to build its own permanent bases on the isthmus, a move that would be deeply unpopular with Panamanians and legally fraught. But it gives the United States broad sway to deploy an unspecified number of personnel to bases, some of which Washington built when it occupied the canal zone decades ago. Trump, since returning to power in January, has repeatedly claimed that China has too much influence over the canal, which handles about 40 percent of US container traffic and five percent of world trade. His administration has vowed to 'take back' control of the strategic waterway that the United States funded, built and controlled until 1999. The United States has long participated in military exercises in Panama. However, a longer-term rotational force -- such as the one the United States maintains in Darwin, Australia -- could prove politically toxic for Panama's center-right leader Jose Raul Mulino. 'Country on fire' Mulino was on Thursday in Peru, where he revealed that the United States had asked to have its own bases. Mulino said he had told visiting Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth that US bases, allowed under an earlier draft, would be 'unacceptable.' He warned Hegseth: 'Do you want to create a mess, what we've put in place here would set the country on fire.' In the watered-down 'Memorandum of Understanding', signed by Hegseth and Panama's security chief Frank Abrego Wednesday, Panama won its own concessions. The United States recognized Panama's sovereignty -- not a given following Trump's refusal to rule out an invasion -- and Panama will retain control over any installations. Panama will also have to agree to any deployments. But given Trump's willingness to rip up or rewrite trade deals, treaties and agreements, that might offer little comfort to worried Panamanians. 'What we have here is a setback to national sovereignty,' Panamanian trade union leader Saul Mendez told AFP. 'What the Panamanian government has done is an act of treason. They are traitors and must be tried.' Difficult history The country has a long and difficult relationship with the United States. They have close cultural and economic ties, despite the decades-long US occupation of the canal zone and US invasion 35 years ago to overthrow dictator Manuel Noriega. That invasion killed more than 500 Panamanians and razed parts of the capital. Trump's vow to take back the canal, and his claim of Chinese influence have prompted mass demonstrations. By law, Panama operates the canal, giving access to all nations. But the US president has zeroed in on the role of a Hong Kong company that has operated ports at either end of the canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans for decades. Under pressure from the White House, Panama has accused the Panama Ports Company of failing to meet its contractual obligations and pushed for the firm to pull out of the country. The ports' parent company CK Hutchison announced last month a deal to offload 43 ports in 23 countries -- including its two on the Panama Canal -- to a consortium led by US asset manager BlackRock for $19 billion in cash. A furious Beijing has since announced an antitrust review of the deal.
