'That is very different': CNN host fact-checks conservative's Panama claims
CNN's Sara Sidner fact-checked a conservative panelist's claims about China and the Panama Canal.
Donald Trump threatened to reassert U.S. control over the canal, claiming that China had too much influence over the critical waterway, and conservative commentator Shermichael Singleton argued that Trump was right.
"I don't think it's a sideshow," Singelton said. "There are five principal zone ports in Panama [and] China controls two, the United States doesn't control any. We controlled the Panama Canal completely up until '77. We entered into a mutual agreement with the Panamanian government in 1999, we handed over complete control to them and fast forward to 2023, 2024. Now China controls two of those zones. Trump is mad about it and, in my opinion, Sara, he is right to be mad. The Chinese government, they're not playing checkers here, they're playing 4-D chess to dominate the global stage, and, in my opinion, they're moving in what I would argue is an area and a pace that should concern U.S. leaders, and this idea of the U.S. trying to at least somewhat usurp China's complete dominance in the region isn't necessarily new."
"Members of Congress have been concerned about this," he added. "In the past, there have just been debates about what is the right course of action to sort of minimize China's growing influence in the Panama Canal, and I think it's important for Trump to really put a spotlight on this."
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Sidner interjected to set Singleton straight, saying the Chinese government did not have direct control over any Panamanian ports.
"We should talk about the fact that it is a subsidiary of a Hong Kong company [CK Hutchison Holdings] that is in control of, or not in control of, that is administering a couple of ports, but there is an autonomous government agency that controls the canal," Sidner said. "So it doesn't mean that China is in full control."
Singleton conceded that she was correct on the administration of those ports, but he said Trump was right to raise the issue.
"You're right, Sara, to point out that it is a Hong Kong-based company that runs these two ports," he said. "But what if they have one company from China that manages one port and a U.S.-based company that manages another port? I don't think that's necessarily a bad argument for the president-elect to make. It's a very pivotal port for U.S. trade, and so I think, again, to pinpoint this and say, wait a minute, this appears to be unbalanced – I don't think he's necessarily wrong in that regard."
Sidner then lectured her guest and asked why Trump had made public threats before even returning to office instead of engaging in diplomacy.
"He's saying he's going to take back the Panama Canal," Sidner said. "That is very different than why not have these negotiations with the country, with the president, who he has completely pissed off, for lack of a better word, with just throwing this out there that he's going to take over. I mean, it's one of those things that you wonder is, was there not a negotiation that could have happened when he is in the seat of the presidency?"
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