Panama joined Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative in 2018, just one year after severing diplomatic relations with Taiwan, becoming the first nation in the Western Hemisphere to embrace Beijing's massive infrastructure development strategy. Margarita Island, off the Atlantic mouth of the canal, is leased to the Landbridge Group for the development of a free trade port outside of local control. Landbridge has close ties to the Chinese Communist Party , and ita key United Front organization.
With the single-minded focus of a military campaign, the CCP directly coordinates ostensibly"private" companies and PRC officials in pursuit of the party's agenda. Unlike normal multinational companies which seek profits, financial returns are only a secondary concern for the CCP. The real prize is control—not only control of strategic points such as the Panama Canal and ports but of natural resources, telecommunications, and ultimately governments.