DATE=12/16/1999
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=PANAMA - CHINA
NUMBER=5-45021
BYLINE=STEPHANIE MANN
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: As the United States turns the Panama Canal
over to the government of Panama, some Americans are
wondering if actual control of the canal will be in
the hands of China. Correspondent Stephanie Mann
reports others dismiss such concerns as unwarranted.
TEXT: Panama awarded a Hong Kong company a 25-year
lease to run operations at the Atlantic and Pacific
ports at the two entrances of the Panama Canal.
That decision has prompted an outpouring of concern,
especially from politically conservative groups in the
United States who say the contract poses a security
risk. They say the arrangement allows the Hong Kong
company, Hutchison Whampoa - and by extension mainland
China - the potential ability to control the canal.
One of the most outspoken critics is Republican
Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (from California.) In a
V-O-A T-V interview, Congressman Rohrabacher
criticizes the bidding process that awarded the
contract to Hutchison Whampoa, and he says the company
is too closely allied with Communist authorities in
Beijing.
/// ROHRABACHER ACT ///
The issue is whether or not the United States
government should stay mute while a company that
is basically a front company for the Chinese
government and run by someone who is in the
inner circle of the Communist Chinese Party
leadership takes control and possession of the
ports on either side of the Panama Canal, thus
putting themselves in a position to dominate the
Panama Canal once the United States has totally
left the scene.
/// END ACT ///
President Clinton has dismissed such concerns, saying
he is comfortable that U-S commercial and security
interests are protected under the agreement that gives
the canal back to Panama.
Latin America analyst Michael Shifter has been closely
watching the Panama Canal hand-over. Mr. Shifter,
program director at the Inter-American Dialogue,
disputes accusations that Hutchison Whampoa is closely
tied to the Chinese Communist Party.
/// SHIFTER ACT ///
There are inevitably going to be some
connections and some links with the Chinese
government. But to say that this is a stooge of
the Chinese government, I think, is a gross
overstatement. There's no basis in fact to
support that claim. This is a company that is
out to make money (and) that is motivated by
profit.
/// END ACT ///
Hutchison Whampoa is only one of several companies
that have been given port concessions in connection
with the Panama Canal. Two U-S companies, a Taiwanese
company, and a Saudi Arabian firm are also involved in
running port activities. Hutchison Whampoa will be
handling the loading and unloading of cargo from ships
at the two entrance ports as well as ship repairs and
refueling.
Retired U-S Ambassador Charles Gillespie has been
studying the Panama Canal reversion for the Atlantic
Council and recently visited Panama to look into the
China connection. Ambassador Gillespie says Hutchison
Whampoa is a respected company that has been operating
ports around the world.
/// GILLESPIE ACT ///
It's a company that has been operating out of
Hong Kong for I guess about or over 150 years.
It is not a new company. And it's a multi-
billion dollar enterprise. It is a publicly
traded company; it's listed on the Hong Kong and
London stock exchanges. According to the public
records, the company does not have any
significant visible investment from mainland
China or any other governments. Its corporate
headquarters is in Featherstone, England, and
not in Hong Kong.
/// END ACT ///
The company's major owner, billionaire Li Ka-Shing, is
reported to have ties to the government in Beijing.
But Mr. Gillespie notes he is one of the wealthiest
men in the world and is well regarded in London and
other world capitals.
He also points out that the Hutchison Whampoa managers
in Panama are all non-Chinese and most are British
nationals. And Ambassador Gillespie says concerns
about possible Chinese control over the canal are
misplaced.
/// GILLESPIE ACT ///
The port operations in Panama are distinct and
totally separate from the canal operations. The
operators of the canal are employed by and
responsible to something called . the Panama
Canal Authority. That is a Panamanian
operation. It employs the executives who run
it, and it employs the pilots who get on the
ships and take them through the locks and
through the canal itself. It employs the people
who operate all of the equipment, who run the
watershed areas and manage all the details of
canal operations. And that is purely
Panamanian.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Gillespie served as U-S ambassador to Colombia and
spent most of his foreign service career in Latin
America. He dismisses concerns about the canal's
security by pointing to an agreement called "the
Neutrality Treaty" that was part of a treaty package
governing the canal negotiated in the 1970's.
Ambassador Gillespie says the Neutrality Treaty
requires the governments of Panama and the United
States to ensure the neutral operation of the canal
forever. He says the U-S government is obliged to
intervene if it perceives that neutrality is being
compromised.
/// REST OPTIONAL ///
He also notes that Panama has friendly diplomatic
relations with Taiwan, not the People's Republic of
China. So, he says Taiwan will likely watch the canal
operations very closely.
Moreover, Ambassador Gillespie says the countries on
the west coast of South America as well as most
countries in Asia and western Europe depend on traffic
through the Panama Canal for their commerce. He says
they, too, will want to make sure that traffic is
handled efficiently and without any political
interference. (Signed)
NEB/SMN/JP
16-Dec-1999 12:18 PM EDT (16-Dec-1999 1718 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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