China urged to ‘harshly’ punish Panama over court’s canal ruling
Legal analyst says Beijing should ‘consider postponing arrangements’ for Donald Trump’s visit over a ruling against a Hong Kong-based firm
Tian Feilong, vice dean of the law school at Minzu University, also said Beijing should impose “institutional” punishments on US “proxies” in the Latin American country and impose secondary sanctions on relevant American parties.
By “squeezing” China out of Latin America, the Trump administration was “trying hard to gain favourable chips” for the US leader’s trip to the country this year, he argued in an article published on the Shanghai-based news portal Guancha.cn.
Trump has repeatedly said the United States must gain control of the waterway, claiming it is “operated by China”.
His administration’s recent national security strategy also set out the White House’s wish to keep “adversaries” away from key strategic territories such as the canal and Greenland.