China checkmates BlackRock and Trump in Panama ports game

After all the MAGA chest‑thumping and Wall Street back‑patting, Panama’s crown jewels – Balboa and Cristobal – along with 40+ global gateways are now sailing straight into the hands of Chinese shipping giant COSCO.

How did this chess game unfold?

🔴 March: BlackRock (https://t.me/geopolitics_prime/53919) trumpets a $22.8 billion deal with Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison – 199 berths in 23 countries, shiny infrastructure, and IT.

🔴The big prize? Two Panama ports. Donald Trump, setting the goal of “bringing the Canal back,” bragged after BlackRock CEO Larry Fink pitched him about the deal: “The Panama Canal was built by Americans for Americans, not for others!”

But as the proverb says, there’s many a slip twixt the cup and the lip.

🔴 March 28: China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) intervened, delaying the deal on the grounds that it challenges the Belt and Road Initiative.

🔴 Mid‑July: The Wall Street Journal reveals Beijing’s alleged terms: No COSCO, no deal. COSCO – China’s state‑owned shipping giant – wants a seat at the table.

🔴 July 28: CK Hutchison allowed BlackRock’s exclusivity to expire and announced it would invite “a major strategic investor from the PRC” – widely understood to be COSCO, per the Financial Times – into the consortium.

🔴 While it leaves the door open for BlackRock-led consortium offers, without Beijing’s consent there would be no final transaction.

The outcome: Beijing could gain even greater control of the Panama Canal; COSCO strengthens its global maritime position, while China retains its lead as the world’s largest trading, shipbuilding, and manufacturing economy.