# The New Great Game

By [DYLIT Media Buzz](https://dylit.info/user/dylitmediabuzz)

[GeoPulse](https://dylit.info/pr/geopulse/6a4e89c325b94158fd865a00) > [The New Great Game](https://dylit.info/ch/the-new-great-game/6a4e89c325b94158fd865a34)

The Panama Canal Standoff: What China Actually Holds, and What Washington Wants The waterway has been owned and run by the autonomous Panama Canal Authority since the U.S. handover in 1999, and fact-checks of Trump's claim that China "operates" it have found no evidence to support it. What actually drew scrutiny was a 1997 concession held by Hong Kong's CK Hutchison over the Balboa and Cristóbal ports at the canal's two entrances — a private Hong Kong firm, not a mainland state enterprise, though headquartered in a Chinese Special Administrative Region. Panama's own comptroller audited a 2021, no-bid 25-year extension of that deal and alleged it cost the state roughly $1.3 billion; Panama's Supreme Court ultimately ruled it unconstitutional and voided it. What China Actually Holds Beyond that now-defunct concession, Chinese state firms hold real but narrower interests: China Communications Construction Company and China Harbour Engineering Company continue building a fourth bridge over the canal and a metro extension beneath it, contracts unaffected by the ports dispute. Elsewhere, Chinese equipment shows up more than Chinese ownership — Panama's largest Caribbean port, Manzanillo, is U.S.-owned but uses Chinese-made cranes, and a cancelled Chinese port project left behind Huawei-donated security cameras. This is a genuine commercial footprint, concentrated in construction and equipment supply, not in canal ownership or operations. The 2025–2026 Reckoning Following Secretary Rubio's February 2025 visit, Panama withdrew from China's Belt and Road Initiative, becoming the first Latin American country to both join and leave it. CK Hutchison then agreed to sell its global ports business, including the Panama terminals, to a BlackRock-led consortium — a deal China's antitrust regulator froze, reportedly after state-owned COSCO demanded a majority stake. That sale remains unresolved. Separately, Panama's Supreme Court voided Hutchison's concession in January 2026, the government occupied the terminals in February, and interim operations passed to Maersk and MSC. Hutchison has since filed roughly $2 billion in arbitration alleging breach of its investor protections. Washington's Broader Play Beyond talk of "taking back" the canal, Washington's actual tools have been more measured: an April 2025 security memorandum lets U.S. forces use select Panamanian facilities for training without permanent bases, paired with diplomatic pressure and support for a Western buyer of contested assets. A June 2026 Congressional Research Service report frames this as part of restoring "American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere" — language suggesting Panama is a template Washington could extend elsewhere in the region. That approach carries real domestic cost for Panama, whose opposition has called the security pact a "camouflaged invasion." Where This Leaves Each Player Panama reasserted control over a contested concession but now faces a multibillion-dollar arbitration claim and the challenge of not appearing to have picked a side. The U.S. achieved several goals — BRI exit, the security MOU, the end of Hutchison's concession — without the most extreme options floated early on, though the marquee BlackRock sale itself remains stuck. China lost its most visible canal-adjacent asset and its first Latin American BRI partner, but retains construction contracts and regional ties, and continues to frame the episode as U.S. overreach rather than a legitimate security concern. Related YouTube Videos  Johnny Harris — "The Dark Truth of the Panama Canal" — youtube.com/watch?v=GRDGQERSmDE Johnny Harris — "Control the Choke Point: How the US Stole the Panama Canal" — youtube.com/c/johnnyharris/videos Other Authentic Sources CSIS, "Chinese Ports in Panama Come Under New Management" — csis.org/analysis/chinese-ports-panama-come-under-new-management CSIS, "Key Decision Point Coming for the Panama Canal" — csis.org/analysis/key-decision-point-coming-panama-canal CNBC, "Panama cancels China-linked port deal" — cnbc.com/2026/02/24/panama-officially-voids-annuls-ck-hutchison-contracts-interim-control-maersk-msc-canal-dispute.html