Why Trump’s target should be China, not Panama
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Donald Trump is threatening to invade Panama. Chinese influence over the Canal Zone, he argues, undermines U.S. security.
Ten years ago, I commanded a 60-man counter-narcotics training mission for the Marines to the Panama Canal Zone. Over the last two years, I served on the Select Committee on China in Congress. I introduced the U.S. Supply Chain Security Review Act, which is now the law of the land.
The president-elect is right to support the Monroe Doctrine. This pillar of American foreign policy has rejected outside interference in the Americas for two centuries. Based on my experience in Panama and in Congress, though, I believe Trump is going about this the wrong way.
President Trump meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
To keep China out of America’s backyard, the next administration should get tough on China, not Panama.
TRUMP NEGOTIATING A NEW PANAMA CANAL TREATY FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
Panama is our ally. When I led a combined training team of Marines, sailors, and Colombian special operators to the Panama Canal Zone in 2014, I worked closely with the Panamanian Public Forces. I planned patrols with their officers and conducted live-fire drills with their troops. On water and in the jungle, we trained in drug interdiction tactics.
The Panamanians were professional and pro-American. We were one team. Even the implication from the next commander in chief that Americans might fight against them is unserious and unacceptable.
The Chinese Communist Party, though, is anti-American. Although I have not seen evidence of Chinese malfeasance in the Canal Zone, their influence is undeniable. Panama is no outlier; Chinese influence extends throughout Central and South America.
Beyond maritime operations, China has been muscling its way into telecommunications and data infrastructure; local politics and media, including TikTok; and energy and resources. Policymakers in both parties recognize that Washington should do more to uphold the Monroe Doctrine for the G2 era.
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The right way to flex the doctrine is to get tougher on both defense and offense against China. On defense, America should push out Chinese firms from the Western Hemisphere by strengthening our own economic, diplomatic and cultural ties with countries like Panama. The Chinese come to their capitals bearing trade deals and infrastructure investments. Americans show up rarely.
On offense, America should double down on our alliances in China’s backyard. President Biden made big strides here. He aided rapprochement between Japan and South Korea. He pulled in India to counterbalance China. And he secured closer military cooperation with Australia and the Philippines.
The missing piece in the East, just like in the West, has been trade and investment. When Trump abandoned the Trans-Pacific Partnership, China became the region’s biggest economic partner. America’s friends in the region still want us to join. Trump could negotiate a deal with strong environmental, labor and country-of-origin provisions, just like he did with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
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An offense-defense approach to the Monroe Doctrine would put Xi Jinping on his heels. The Chinese president’s mercantilist strategy, known as the Belt and Road Initiative, relies upon state support and direction. Hamstrung by a weak economy at home, Xi would not be able to go deal-for-deal against a booming American economy doing business everywhere.
Trump should be dialing up these tough tactics against a big, belligerent country, not bullying a small ally.
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