Panama’s foreign minister used a United Nations Security Council debate on Tuesday to call for dialogue over confrontation, saying his country was “born to connect oceans, continents, cultures and economies” in a speech delivered before an assembly chaired by China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, as the two countries navigate their worst bilateral crisis since establishing ties in 2017.
China holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council in May and convened a high-level open debate on Tuesday to uphold the UN Charter and strengthen the multilateral system, which Wang said included more than 20 countries.
Wang, who travelled to New York to lead the session, used a separate press conference to take a veiled swipe at Washington, warning that “the purposes of the UN Charter have been disregarded” and that world peace was “in great jeopardy”, without naming the United States or President Donald Trump. He did not take questions on Panama.
Panama’s Javier Martinez-Acha struck a similar register from the podium.
“Dialogue is not a sign of weakness. It is the highest form of trust in reason, in diplomacy, and in the ability of human beings to find peaceful settlements to disputes,” Panama’s foreign minister told the council.
Martinez-Acha also defended what he called “useful multilateralism”, one “not measured solely by the number of resolutions adopted, but by its capacity to prevent conflicts, protect lives and offer concrete answers to the challenges of our peoples”.
The speech came amid a sharp deterioration in Panama-China relations triggered by a January Supreme Court ruling that struck down the concession held by Panama Ports Company, a subsidiary of Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison, over the ports of Balboa and Cristobal at both entrances to the canal.
The government awarded temporary operations to APM Terminals and TIL Panama, subsidiaries of European shipping giants Maersk and MSC, respectively.
China responded with a surge in port inspections, and in April alone, 136 of 164 vessel detentions at Chinese ports involved Panama-flagged ships, more than 82 per cent of the total, according to the Central American country. President Jose Raul Mulino called the pattern a “political message” and said it was not fair for Panama-flagged vessels to be used “to attempt to exert pressure”.
Days before the Security Council session, Martinez-Acha had addressed the China dispute more directly.
Speaking at the Organisation of American States in Washington last Thursday, ahead of a June assembly the organisation will hold in Panama City, he called for a multilateralism “without ideological trenches” and said Panama expected China to “respect the constitution and the rule of law, just as we respect the countries with which we maintain diplomatic relations”.
Earlier in May, he had told reporters the situation with Beijing had to be handled “with precision, prudence and respect for the legal frameworks in force”.
Martinez-Acha and Wang were expected to hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of Tuesday’s session. Neither government released details or a readout, and Wang did not address the Panama bilateral at his press conference after the Council’s meeting.
Earlier on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning also declined to confirm the meeting, telling journalists that China would release details on the meeting “in a timely manner ... if there is relevant information”.
Despite Beijing’s reticence, Panama secured a separate diplomatic win. Austria announced on Tuesday it would become the latest country to accede to the Protocol to the Treaty of Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama Canal, joining Switzerland and Portugal, which announced accessions earlier in May.
More than 40 countries have now signed the 1977 treaty, which obliges signatories to respect the canal’s permanent neutrality and open passage for vessels of all nations, but China is not among them.
Panama has described the accession drive as a strategy to build broader international legal and political backing for its sovereignty over the waterway.
Each new signatory also broadens the coalition of states formally committed to protecting the canal’s neutrality, reinforcing Panama’s position as sovereign guarantor of one of the world’s busiest maritime routes at a moment when the Trump administration has publicly questioned Chinese influence over the canal and floated the idea of reasserting US control.
Additional reporting by Mark Magnier -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
