My Take | US fears tide has turned with Cosco port deal in Peru
- Danger posed by China-funded Chancay cargo project is not that it will become a naval base, but South America will see it as success of Belt and Road Initiative
Will she play ball or not? Washington had been playing this guessing game with Peruvian President Dina Boluarte since last year. Now they have their answer, and it will not be looked on kindly.
Just as suddenly as Lima took China’s Cosco, the state-owned logistics and shipping giant, to court, it then dropped the case swiftly ahead of Boluarte’s official visit to Beijing last week. And, having seen how China has applied 5G and artificial intelligence to run all its leading ports, a business delegation led by Boluarte has also sealed a major deal with Huawei Technologies to help Peruvian businesses to adopt the new tech.
The dispute concerns the US$1.3 billion megaport project by Cosco at Chancay, 70km north of Lima, along with another US$2.3 billion the company is jointly committed to investing with Peruvian mining firm Volcan.
The Chancay port has the potential to turn Peru into a global shipping hub and transform trade between South America and Asia by slashing travel times for cargo ships.
Once built, it will be the subcontinent’s largest deep seaport, with two massive terminals, one with 11 berths and another with four specifically built for bulk cargo, as well as for general cargo.
Not surprisingly, the project has been a thorn in the side of the United States since Cosco took a majority stake in the project in 2019.