DISINFORMATIONChanneling Frustrations: Russian and Chinese Messaging Exploit the US-Panama Canal Dispute
Russian and Chinese messaging underscores a strategic effort to reshape global perceptions of the United States. Moscow and Beijing seek to erode Washington’s international credibility, particularly in Latin America.
On December 21, 2024, then-US President-elect Donald Trump demanded that the Panama Canal be returned to the United States from Panama if the latter continued to charge US vessels what he described as “exorbitant” and “ridiculous” rates. A day later, he decried growing Chinese influence and control over the waterway. Then, on the day of his inauguration, he vowed to return it to American hands. What Trump may not have intended is that his pronouncements on the canal provided an opportunity for US adversaries to strengthen their relationships in Panama and, more broadly, in Latin America. This is apparent in the official messaging from Russia and China, who have consistently exploited real or perceived grievances towards the United States to expand their influence in the region.
Trump’s commentary drew reactions of concern and befuddlement, including from allies, but Russia and China’s diplomats and state media, including influential outlets targeting Latin American audiences, also leveraged the situation to advance their geopolitical agendas and longstanding narratives about the United States and the international order.
Using ASD’s Hamilton 2.0 Dashboard, we analyzed the coverage of Russian and Chinese state media, diplomatic, and state-affiliated accounts across multiple social media platforms in the weeks following Trump’s initial statements about the Panama Canal. In their communications, Russia and China maintained that the United States is acting as an imperialist power with disregard for international law, with Russia criticizing what it sees as US hypocrisy over the norm of territorial sovereignty and China positioning itself as a more reliable partner to Latin America and the so-called “Global South”.
Russia
Russian state media, diplomats, and affiliated accounts have cudgeled the United States for its alleged imperialist tendencies, while emphasizing to diverse audiences, including in the Spanish language in Latin America, that there are alternatives to US hegemony. Russian official messaging presented Trump’s statements about reclaiming the Panama Canal—as well as acquiring Greenland and annexing Canada—as emblematic of a broader historical pattern of US territorial expansion and disregard for international norms. Russia also framed Trump’s posture as a continuation of 19th-century US foreign policy and “aiming to obscure the US and NATO’s defeat in Europe”.
