October 27, 1999	atimes.com

China US rightists see reds in paranoia over Panama By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON - Right-wing US Republicans bristled when President Bill Clinton's National Security Adviser Sandy Berger accused them of practicing a new isolationism, ''distinctly defeatist'' in outlook. That was last Thursday. On Friday, however, they proved that Berger was absolutely right. Pointing to a contract between a Hong Kong-based shipping firm and the Panamanian government, Rep Dana Rohrabacher told a Senate committee that the deal ''without doubt, will lead eventually to the domination of Panama and the Panama Canal by Beijing''. That was only the beginning of a lengthy hearing filled with alarm about the coming Chinese threat in Washington's own ''backyard''. ''If the Chinese are now trying to take an aggressive and offensive role [in Asia], they would certainly be interested in naval choke points and facilities throughout the world,'' warned Ronald Reagan's former defense secretary, Caspar Weinberger. ''And there is no more strategic [and] bigger choke point than the Panama Canal.'' It may be the turning of the millenium or only the anxiety created by the approaching December 31 end of Washington's almost century-long occupation of the Panama Canal Zone. Either way, right-wing Republicans appear determined to show that they are as paranoid as suggested by Berger. At issue is Panama's 1997 award to Panama Ports Company (PPC), a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa Ltd, of a 25-year, renewable contract to lease and operate the ports of Balboa and Cristobal, located at the ends of the Canal. Founded by British colonialists 150 years ago, Hutchison Whampoa is the world's largest privately-owned container port operator, with 18 locations around the world handling more than 10 percent of the global flow of cargo containers. Now that Hong Kong is part of China, the company's interest in Panama has aroused suspicions among two major forces within the Republican Party. There are the traditional isolationists, who always have opposed what they call Jimmy Carter's ''giveaway'' of the canal - the very symbol of Washington's early 20th century expansion in the Americas. Then there are the unrepentent Cold Warriors who see China as the ascendant ''evil empire''. Republicans allege Hutchison is linked to the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) which hopes to use the ports as a base from which it can launch intelligence operations, smuggle immigrants, weapons and other contraband - even sabotage or seize the canal. Citing an article written by two PLA officers, Sen Robert Smith even pointed to the possibility that Beijing could use Panama for nuclear blackmail against the United States. The article ''elaborates on how one might hide nuclear bombs in Panama to force the US to concede defeat'', he said. ''That's pretty chilling, isn't it?'' he asked Weinberger. ''Well, it is, yes, sir,'' replied the former Pentagon chief, adding that ''worst-case scenarios'' always had to be carefully examined. Clinton administration officials and independent analysts find this kind of speculation too bizarre to take seriously. Clinton's spokesman, Joe Lockhardt, infuriated the Right last week when he called reports of Chinese designs on the canal ''silly''. The head of the US Southern Command, Gen Charles Wilhelm, told the Senate committee that the Pentagon and intelligence analysts had concluded that Hutchison Whampoa's interests in the port were strictly commercial. He stressed that, under the Carter-Torrijos treaty, the United States has the right to intervene militarily if access to the canal is threatened or blocked. ''The biggest threat to the canal is environmental degradation,'' Wilhelm said, noting that Washington was also concerned about possible terrorist threats. But, he added, ''it's hard to figure out when and where they might strike, or who they might be''. Joseph Cornelison, the deputy administrator of the canal and the senior US citizen in charge of its operation until December 31, also strongly denied Republican charges. Hutchison Whampoa, he said, ''is not a company that has suddenly appeared on the world scene with mysterious origins''. ''There's not a single Chinese person in the operation of PPC in Panama today. Indeed, its senior two officials are a British and a United States citizen,'' he added. ''The US intelligence community has explored alleged links between Hutchison Whampoa and China and possible Chinese influence over the canal,'' said Lino Gutierrez, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs. ''We have concluded . . . that the presence of [the company] in the ports of Balboa and Christobal does not represent a threat to canal operations or other US interests in Panama,'' he told the senators. ''Under the corporate structure, PPC is run out of Featherstone, England, and not out of Hong Kong, and its senior management is made up of British, New Zealand and Australian nationals.'' Weinberger and other Republicans, however, scoffed. The fact that the company's bid on the contract was nearly twice that of its nearest competitor, said Weinberger, ''raises the question of whether or not they had any other reasons for wanting to get this, rather than the purely commercial.'' He also noted that the company had acquired the rights to use a former US naval base nearby. And Hutchison Whampoa's legal and historical independence from the Chinese government ultimately was irrelevant, the Republicans contended. ''These Chinese companies do what their government tells them,'' said Majority Leader Trent Lott. ''That is a simple fact based on the kind of government that China has,'' added Weinberger. Ironically, their remarks recalled precisely what Berger had said the day before. Noting that the ''new isolationists'' believed that the United States needed a ''great adversary'', Berger said that ''for the role of new enemy number one, China is most popular''. ''America may be at the height of its power and prosperity,'' Berger said, ''yet [the new isolationists] see an American in constant peril.'' (Inter Press Service)

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