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yesterday

Panama Orders Rebuild After Chinese Canal Monument Razed as Beijing Lodges Protest

The national government condemned the local demolition, promising immediate restoration.

This view shows the site where a Chinese monument once stood before it was demolished in Arraijan, Panama on December 28, 2025. A Chinese monument located at the entrance of the Panama Canal was demolished on December 27, 2025, night by order of a local authority, amid pressure from the US to reduce the presence of the Asian giant in the interoceanic waterway. (Photo by Daniel DE CARTERET / AFP)
A man takes a photo with his phone of a part of the site where a Chinese monument once stood before it was demolished in Arraijan, Panama on December 28, 2025. A Chinese monument located at the entrance of the Panama Canal was demolished on December 27, 2025, night by order of a local authority, amid pressure from the US to reduce the presence of the Asian giant in the interoceanic waterway.
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FILE - A police officer walks by a monument honoring 150 years of the Chinese community in Panama City, June 13, 2017. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco, File)

Overview

  • Excavators leveled the 2004 Chinese‑Panamanian Friendship Park monument near the Bridge of the Americas during the night of Dec. 27–28 on orders from the Arraiján mayor’s office.
  • Mayor Stefany Dayan Peñalba defended the action as a lawful, technical decision, citing structural damage that posed a public‑safety risk.
  • China’s Foreign Ministry and its embassy in Panama protested what they called a forced demolition, urging an investigation and steps to remedy the damage.
  • President José Raúl Mulino denounced the teardown, ordered an inquiry, and directed that the monument be restored in its original location.
  • Videos shared by Ambassador Xu Xueyuan showed the overnight teardown and reported police kept residents from the lookout, as the dispute unfolds in the context of U.S.–China competition over influence in Panama and the canal.