Belt and Road Initiative, Why?
By Evan Dudik — edudik@evandudik.com
In the Panama Canal and elsewhere, China sees opportunities to leverage strategic investments.
Fast forward to recent years. In 2015 an anonymous source leaked the heretofore secret Panama Papers. The Papers documented shell companies—over 200,000 of them—shielding world power players including Vladimir Putin from scrutiny of their wealth, control of companies and taxes. One result is that Panama no longer became a favorite venue for global bankers. The leakage of Papers continues to this day (writing in mid-2019). Banking is so important to the Panamanian economy, it has looked elsewhere to replace its international banking industry. China steps in: