From Panama to Greenland: All of Trump’s Issues Trace Back to China

The conditions at the Panama Canal are more alarming than we previously realized. Not only does a Chinese firm operate container ports at both ends of this vital waterway, but a Chinese construction team is also gradually erecting a bridge directly through its center.

Just how gradual is the construction? The bridge is not expected to be finished until 2027, and Senator Ted Cruz believes he has identified the implications.

During a recent hearing, Cruz, who chairs the Commerce Committee, stated, “the partially-completed bridge gives China the capacity to obstruct the canal without notice… This situation creates significant risks to U.S. national security.”

What types of risks are we talking about?

Consider this scenario: China proclaims a blockade of Taiwan, and we find ourselves needing to rapidly deploy forces from the Atlantic to the Pacific in response.

A U.S. aircraft carrier is navigating the canal, passing beneath China’s bridge when, without warning, the unfinished bridge collapses, destroying the vessel.

China responds by feigning it was an accident, extending condolences to the families of the thousands of U.S. sailors who perished. Unable to break the blockade, Taiwan surrenders two months later, allowing China to seize control of the world’s largest chip-manufacturing facility.

The previous administration overlooked these national security threats. Joe Biden seemed largely disengaged during his presidency, even sleeping on a Delaware beach for substantial amounts of time. Some even speculate whether he has always been the Manchurian Candidate.

Regardless of the truth, China has enjoyed four unimpeded years of global expansion.

While Biden was inattentive, China crushed the Democracy Movement in Hong Kong and detained its leading figure, Jimmy Lai.

It encroached on the territories of neighboring nations like Bhutan and India, constructed a naval base in Cambodia, and bolstered North Korea’s Kim Jong-un in his ongoing missile threats. Just last week, the man known as “Little Rocket Man” fired another series of cruise missiles.

China has also initiated a new form of “grey zone” warfare, with its ships cutting undersea communication cables in the Baltic Sea and, more troublingly, around Taiwan and its offshore territories, which may precede an actual blockade.

Simultaneously, Beijing has significantly increased its presence in the South Pacific, signing a “security pact” with the Solomon Islands and attempting to rebuild a strategic World War II airstrip in Kiribati, located just 1,500 miles from Hawaii.

Even nearer to U.S. territory, China has proclaimed itself a “near-Arctic power,” amassing a fleet of icebreakers and eyeing Greenland. Yes, that Greenland.

The scale of China’s disruptive influence over the last four years is immense. Today, China is the chaos agent instigating numerous major global conflicts.

Prior to initiating its invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin sought support from Xi Jinping in Beijing.

The two established a quasi-military alliance.

The invasion of Ukraine followed shortly thereafter.

Without China’s electronic resources, Hamas would not have effectively planned and executed a stealth attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The cyberattacks that delayed Israel’s response were also orchestrated by China.

Without China’s assistance for Iran’s ballistic missile program—initiated in the 1990s—and its financial backing through oil purchases, the Iranian regime would not have been able to assault Israel.

Without a green light from Beijing, it is unlikely that Kim Jong-un would have dispatched North Korean munitions, artillery, and troops to assist Russia’s struggling ground operations in Ukraine.

Biden left the White House on January 20 with global tensions closer to World War III than at any time since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1961. The ongoing war in Ukraine, a volatile Middle East, and the imminent threat of invasion against the peaceful democracy of Taiwan paint a concerning picture.

The next occupant of the White House, having completed his learning curve during his initial term, is evidently positioned to bring this chaos under control and address the source of the turmoil.

In his first two weeks, Trump has made it clear that his foremost goal is to protect the American homeland. This includes securing our borders and establishing our own missile defense shield, an American version of Israel’s highly effective Iron Dome.

This commitment includes preventing China from gaining a foothold in Greenland. Ultimately, we may even consider reclaiming control over the Panama Canal.

In 1979, the late President Jimmy Carter committed two grave errors that still affect us today. First, he transferred control of the Panama Canal to the small nation that borders it under a wave of globalist goodwill.

Second, he extended diplomatic relations to China, thereby legitimizing a regime that now poses a significant threat to the United States and our allies, particularly given its critical position regarding the canal.

I propose that as we work to secure the Panama Canal, we should rename it to honor the Americans who perished while constructing this essential waterway: it should henceforth be known as the American Canal.

A senior official from the Chinese Communist Party recently cautioned our new Secretary of State that “America better behave itself or else.” In truth, it is China that must behave. A new sheriff has arrived.

Steven W. Mosher is the president of the Population Research Institute and the author of “The Devil and Communist China.”