Panama's business chiefs hope for big return from new ties to Beijing

A worker arranges boxes at a shop in Chinatown in Panama City, Panama, June 13, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Lemos

PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Panama's business community on Tuesday cheered the Central American country's decision to establish full diplomatic ties with China and ditch Taiwan, hoping to deepen links with a key customer of the nation's shipping canal.

Although there was regret at the cost to Taiwan, an ally of various Central American nations, there was broad support for President Juan Carlos Varela's decision to throw his lot in with China, whose growing global ambitions contrast with U.S. President Donald Trump's isolationist rhetoric.