Chinese Community Monument in Panama Removed Amid US–CCP Tensions
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A monument to commemorate the local Chinese community’s contributions to Panama in the 19th century was removed on Dec. 27, 2025.
Local Panama authorities ordered the removal of the monument, which the Arraiján mayor’s office said had structural damage that posed a “safety risk.”
The Chinese regime, which only established diplomatic relations with Panama in 2017, responded strongly, amid its efforts to challenge the United States’ influence over the key route for international maritime traffic.
The monument, which overlooks the Bridge of the Americas waterway, was built in 2004 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the arrival of Chinese people in Panama and their contribution to the construction of the Panama Canal and Panama Canal Railway.
At the time, the Chinese community was granted a 20-year permit to build and maintain the monument and that concession expired in 2024.
The Chinese Embassy in Panama said in a statement on Dec. 28 that the removal of the monument “not only brutally trampled on the collective feelings of the 300,000 Chinese citizens and people of Chinese descent in Panama but also seriously damaged the friendly feelings of the Chinese people toward the Panamanian people.”
Lin Jian, spokesman for the Chinese regime’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, demanded on Dec. 29 that the Panama government investigate the issue.
Mulino is likely under pressure from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Heng He, a U.S.-based China affairs commentator, wrote in a column for the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times.
The monument is a local Panama matter and “it has nothing to do with the Chinese regime, or even the Panama state government,” Heng wrote. “When the monument was built in 2004, Panama still maintained diplomatic relations with the Republic of China in Taiwan.”
Chinese History in Panama
On March 30, 1854, a total of 694 Chinese workers arrived in Panama after setting sail from Shantou in Guangdong, China, on the ship “Sea Witch.” A total of 20,000 Chinese workers participated in the construction of the Panama Canal Railway, according to historical records.In 1881, tens of thousands more Chinese workers participated in the construction of the Panama Canal. These people were not officially dispatched by the Manchu government, but they decided individually to make a life in Panama, Heng noted.
“At that time, the country Panama did not even exist. The monument commemorates the historical contribution of the Chinese to the construction of Panama, not the friendship between China and Panama, and has nothing to do with the Chinese communist regime,” Heng wrote.
Panama cut long-standing diplomatic ties with the Republic of China in Taiwan in 2017 and established relations with the Chinese communist regime, in a diplomatic coup for Beijing.
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The Chinese community in Panama has been in Panama for much longer than the CCP, Heng noted. He said the Chinese Association of Panama was founded in 1943 and raised funds to build the monument.
“The jurisdiction of the Chinese regime’s ambassador does not include ethnic Chinese who are Panama citizens. It can only include Panama residents who are still Chinese citizens, and mainly employees of Chinese companies operating in Panama. But those people have nothing to do with the monument,” he wrote.
“When did [the CCP] have the right to represent the nearly 300,000 ethnic Chinese in Panama who are Panama citizens? Who authorized the CCP to represent them?” Heng said.
The CCP cannot represent the Chinese community in Panama, U.S.-based current affairs commentator Wang He told The Epoch Times. As to the CCP’s strong reaction to the demolition of the local monument, Wang said that “what is happening now is that the CCP is deliberately hyping up nationalism at home and engaging in wolf warrior diplomacy abroad. Moreover, this matter is largely an attempt to further penetrate or preserve its power in Panama.”
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Illustration by The Epoch Times, Google Earth, Shutterstock
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Battle for Canal Control
The demolition of the monument occurred as the United States has worked to curb the CCP’s influence in Panama.The Panama Canal, through which 5 percent of global maritime trade passes, was completed in 1914. The United States played a key role in the construction and early management of the critical waterway. The United States maintained control of the canal after its completion until 1977, when President Jimmy Carter signed a treaty handing operating rights to Panama.
The CCP’s influence in Panama and the Panama Canal has been growing in recent years, raising concerns with the U.S. government. Two of the five ports on the Pacific and Atlantic sides of the Panama Canal are operated by subsidiaries of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings.
The Chinese regime has demanded a controlling stake for its state-owned shipping giant, Cosco, in the ports of Balboa and Cristóbal of the Panama Canal, with Beijing threatening to block the sale if Cosco isn’t granted majority control.
On Dec. 17, 2025, U.S. Ambassador Kevin Cabrera boarded a U.S. Coast Guard Cutter ALERT during its recent port call in Panama City, highlighting the United States’ maritime security partnership with Panama amid the canal sale dispute.
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Under pressure from the United States, Mulino also promised not to renew Panama’s agreement with the CCP under the regime’s Belt and Road Initiative. The initiative is the regime’s global foreign policy project to extend its political influence through issuing foreign governments loans for infrastructure projects that often result in nations becoming indebted to Beijing.
The United States is seeking to gain control of the Panama Canal, which is a key maritime choke point, for the security of the United States in the Western Hemisphere and the deployment of its forces in the key waterway, Shen Ming-shih, a research fellow at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, told The Epoch Times.
“The United States is bound to compete with China over the canal. It will be difficult for a small country like Panama to choose a side,” Shen said. “It’s just that now, Trump’s focus is on Venezuela first. After the Venezuela issue is over, he may think of Panama next.”
Wang said that because Panama is dependent on the CCP economically, “it’s unlikely that Panama can be completely on the side of the United States.”
But for now, “under pressure from the United States, it is gradually distancing itself from the CCP.”
Shen noted that Panama originally established diplomatic relations with the Republic of China in Taiwan, and then leaned toward the CCP and broke off diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
“Now Trump’s policies and attitudes have also caused different stances in Panama’s domestic political circle,” he said. “If Panama holds a presidential election in the future, there may also be such a contrast between pro-China and pro-U.S. attitudes or competition among the candidates.”
