PHPanama is dropping out of the Belt and Road Initiative, the country's leader announced after meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
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The small country will no longer take part in the biggest global trade project in world history.
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In closed-door talks, Rubio reportedly backed off from the threats of invasion made by President Donald Trump—and was rewarded with a small prize.
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The BRI deal, signed in 2017, will not be renewed, Panama leader Jose Raul Mulino said, and they may try to withdraw from it sooner.
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FAILURE ON MULTIPLE LEVELS
While the State Department is presenting this as a win, it is clearly a failure on multiple levels.
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Rubio was tasked with taking over the Panama canal for the US. He failed.
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He was tasked with removing the "Chinese" companies which run two of the ports. He failed.
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He thinks that forcing Panama to withdraw from the BRI is a success – but in reality, it confirms the worst of what the world already thinks about the US, which is that it is a dangerous foreign policy bully, willing to actively harm other nations, including friends and neighbors.
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BIGGEST CONTRIBUTOR
The belt and road initiative, launched by China in 2013, has been the biggest contributor in helping to lift poorer countries towards the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development goals, UN officials said last year.
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Allegations by US hawks that it is a "debt-trap" system have been repeatedly debunked by economists around the world, but continue to be printed by the mainstream media, including America's PBS in a report today.
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The irony is that the company behind the ports in Panama is not from mainland China at all.
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The Hutchison group, parent of Hong Kong International Terminals, was founded in British Hong Kong. The global port operator's holding company is part-listed on the Singapore stock market, with shares held by investors from around the world, including the US.
.
But these are simple, incontrovertible facts. They are of no interest to the US government and media, far adrift, lost in their own post-truth world.
.
.
The small country will no longer take part in the biggest global trade project in world history.
.
In closed-door talks, Rubio reportedly backed off from the threats of invasion made by President Donald Trump—and was rewarded with a small prize.
.
The BRI deal, signed in 2017, will not be renewed, Panama leader Jose Raul Mulino said, and they may try to withdraw from it sooner.
.
.
.
FAILURE ON MULTIPLE LEVELS
While the State Department is presenting this as a win, it is clearly a failure on multiple levels.
.
Rubio was tasked with taking over the Panama canal for the US. He failed.
.
He was tasked with removing the "Chinese" companies which run two of the ports. He failed.
.
He thinks that forcing Panama to withdraw from the BRI is a success – but in reality, it confirms the worst of what the world already thinks about the US, which is that it is a dangerous foreign policy bully, willing to actively harm other nations, including friends and neighbors.
.
.
.
BIGGEST CONTRIBUTOR
The belt and road initiative, launched by China in 2013, has been the biggest contributor in helping to lift poorer countries towards the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development goals, UN officials said last year.
.
Allegations by US hawks that it is a "debt-trap" system have been repeatedly debunked by economists around the world, but continue to be printed by the mainstream media, including America's PBS in a report today.
.
The irony is that the company behind the ports in Panama is not from mainland China at all.
.
The Hutchison group, parent of Hong Kong International Terminals, was founded in British Hong Kong. The global port operator's holding company is part-listed on the Singapore stock market, with shares held by investors from around the world, including the US.
.
But these are simple, incontrovertible facts. They are of no interest to the US government and media, far adrift, lost in their own post-truth world.
.