-Caveat Lector-
WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War!
Powell: China poses no danger in canal
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Secretary of State Colin Powell said yesterday he is not concerned about
China's influence in the Panama Canal but warned Colombia's president to be
cautious about inviting Chinese agricultural assistance.
"The Chinese presence in the Panama Canal has been written about and
spoken of, but it isn't . . . I have not found that the so-called 'presence'
in the form of shipping companies and the like have created any danger to the
Panamanian people, the Panamanian government, or to the canal itself," Mr.
Powell said at a press conference.
Mr. Powell added: "Our interests are served. . . . I don't see anything
that should cause me any great distress."
The secretary of state was asked about a recent visit to Beijing by a
senior Colombian government official who was seeking Chinese assistance in
agricultural development aid for northeastern Colombia. Mr. Powell said he
was unaware of the request.
Mr. Powell offered this advice to Colombia's president: "President
[Andres] Pastrana is free to seek advice where he finds it most useful. One
always has to be careful that you're getting the advice you sought and
nothing more, and I'm sure he will be careful."
He spoke to reporters following a meeting with British Foreign Secretary
Robin Cook.
Concerns about Chinese influence in Panama were raised by the leasing of
two ports near both ends of the canal by a Hong Kong-based conglomerate
Hutchison Whampoa in 1997.
The company's chairman, Li Ka-Shing, has close ties to the Chinese
government, according to declassified U.S. military intelligence documents.
A 1998 Army intelligence report stated that Mr. Li "is planning to take
control of Panama Canal operations when the U.S. transfers it to Panama in
Dec. 99."
"Li is directly connected to Beijing and is willing to use his business
influence to further the aims of the Chinese government," one of the
documents stated.
A U.S. Southern Command intelligence report from October 1999 called the
leases of Balboa and Cristobal by Panama Ports Co., a subsidiary of Hutchison
Whampoa, "a potential threat."
The Southern Command report stated that China is not likely to sabotage
the Panama Canal but could use the port facilities as "a conduit for illegal
shipments of technology" to China, or to "facilitate the movement of arms and
other prohibited items into the Americas."
Pentagon officials have said China could use its access to the ports to
disrupt shipping if a conflict erupts between China and Taiwan, and the U.S.
military was called in to defend the island.
Organized Chinese crime groups are also using Panama as a base for the
smuggling of narcotics, illegal aliens and arms, according to a U.S. Customs
Service intelligence report.
China also has increased military ties with Cuba and has begun
developing closer relations with the leftist government of Venezuela.
The issue of Chinese influence in Panama was raised in an August 1999
letter from Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott to the Pentagon. Mr. Lott,
Mississippi Republican, stated that it appears that "we have given away the
farm without a shot being fired."
The Pentagon dismissed his concerns about China's access to the
strategic waterway and said there are no U.S. national security interests
threatened by Hutchison Whampoa's ports. Other ports in Panama are operated
by U.S. and Taiwanese companies.
*COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107,
any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use
without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest
in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational
purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ]
Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists!
http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">c
