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yesterday

Panama Tears Down China Friendship Monument Near Canal, Drawing Diplomatic Reproach

The dispute highlights a rift between Arraiján’s mayor and Panama’s national government.

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.
Image
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

  • Arraiján municipal authorities ordered the overnight demolition on Dec. 27–28, citing structural risk at the Mirador del Puente de las Américas site.
  • President José Raúl Mulino condemned the move as irrational, ordered an investigation, and pledged that the federal government will rebuild the monument.
  • China’s foreign ministry and its embassy in Panama lodged formal protests, calling it a forced demolition and urging accountability and restoration.
  • Videos showed excavators tearing down the 2004 monument; Ambassador Xu Xueyuan said community members were blocked from preserving remains and only broken stone lions were left.
  • The removal touches broader tensions over Chinese influence around the canal as Panama signals a step back from Belt and Road engagement under U.S. pressure and as President Trump issues warnings about the waterway.