The Belt Tightens

China accused the United States of “sabotage” over the weekend, shortly after Panama announced its decision to withdraw the country from Beijing’s trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) amid an ongoing row over control of the Panama Canal, Newsweek reported.

On Thursday, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino said the country formally submitted a 90-day notice to withdraw from the ambitious global infrastructure program. He said the decision belonged to Panama and questioned what the BRI had brought the Central American country since it signed a memorandum of understanding with Beijing in 2017.

The announcement came before a weekend visit by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who later hailed Panama’s move as “a great step forward.” Mulino denied that the withdrawal was influenced by US pressure.

Chinese officials expressed “deep regret” for Panama’s withdrawal and urged the country to “make the right decision.” They also criticized the US for using “pressuring and coercion” to smear and sabotage the BRI, which has involved 150 countries since its launch in 2013.

Washington has accused the BRI of amounting to “debt trap diplomacy,” citing cases where struggling nations ceded key infrastructure to China after failing to repay loans.

The withdrawal comes amid recent disputes between Panama and the US over the Panama Canal, the crucial international shipping route that Washington ceded to the Latin American nation in 1999 after building it and administering the 51-mile waterway for decades.

The Trump administration has claimed that China has control of the waterway and has vowed to “take it back,” citing national security concerns.

China and Panama have denied the allegations.

A Hong Kong-based firm, Hutchison Ports Holdings, controls key ports on either side of the waterway. After the US expressed concern over Chinese control, Panama launched an audit of the company’s operations, Al Jazeera noted.