-Caveat Lector-
South of the Panamanian border is Colombia ...
Weinberger Says China Eyes Panama
By GEORGE GEDDA
.c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - Former Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger on Tuesday
joined a chorus of conservatives warning that China may be preparing to
assume control of the Panama Canal, a development that he said would imperil
U.S. security.
It would be illogical for China to ``pass up a chance to acquire a major
foothold in one of the world's three major choke points - especially if it
can be done with little cost or risk,'' Weinberger said in a statement.
He said China already has established a beachhead in Panama through a Hong
Kong-based corporation, Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., which signed a lease
arrangement two years ago for control of ports at both ends of the canal.
The Clinton administration has said it has found no basis for suggestions by
many Republican lawmakers and others that the firm has close links to Chinese
military.
Under the Panama Canal treaties, Panama will assume control over the waterway
on Dec. 31 and all U.S. troops must be withdrawn at that time.
An Alabama company that tried and failed to win the contract for the ports
told a congressional hearing Tuesday that the Panamanians may have tilted the
bidding process in favor of Hutchison Whampoa.
Peter Romero, the top State Department aide for Latin America, said Monday it
is a mistake to assume that the United States will abandon Panama once U.S.
control is relinquished.
The two countries have had ongoing discussions on law enforcement and
security issues and have established a good basis for cooperation - ``deeper,
wider cooperation in the years ahead across the whole spectrum of issues that
we share,'' he said.
Weinberger, who was a Reagan administration defense secretary, said in his
statement that the canal's importance to U.S. security cannot be
overestimated.
The United States saves ``millions of hours and dollars each year by having
our naval vessels and supplies for all military services sail through the
canal rather than around Cape Horn,'' he said in his statement to a
conference sponsored by the conservative Center for Security Policy.
Alarmist views about the canal transfer were voiced by other participants at
the forum, including former National Security Council official Norman Bailey,
who said Panama's border with Colombia is vulnerable to incursions by
Colombian guerrillas.
``Panama has no capacity to control it,'' Bailey said. ``The possibilities of
sabotage of the canal are enormous.''
Romero dismissed that possibility Monday, contending that while Colombian
guerrillas have engaged in cross-border incursions, the canal is not
vulnerable because access is blocked by the ``virtually impregnable'' Darien
area of Panama.
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic
screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters
and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright
frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects
spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
