Text | Feng Lu lectured on the law
Edit | Feng Lu lectured on the law
In our impression, the United States, with its powerful military strength, has always occupied the number one throne in the world, and everyone has to sell him face.
However, there is such a country in the central region of the American continent, even the United States, which is the first in the world, does not dare to provoke easily, and even China has to pay 10 billion yuan to this country every year.
This country is Panama, and the Panama Canal is known as one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and every merchant ship passing through the Panama Canal needs to pay an average of 1.05 million yuan in tolls.
So, what exactly is the Panama Canal worth, and what is so special about Panama as a country?
An indelible national will
At first, the Panama Canal was just an isthmus, but later the Spanish colonists came up with the idea of digging a canal, and as the canal was dug, Panama was targeted by the great powers.
Speaking of which, Panama is one of the few countries that dares to stand up to American oppression, and since 1960, there have been several conflicts between the United States and Panama.
Although Panama is not as strong militarily as the United States, the people of Panama are fighting it with a strong will.
In 1977, Panama and the United States signed the Panama Canal Treaty, which stipulated that Panama would gradually regain full jurisdiction over the canal and the canal zone.
After the entry into force of the treaty, the Panamanian flag was also raised over the Panama Canal. By 31 December 1999, Panama had fully regained sovereignty over the canal under the terms of the treaty.
However, although Panama has regained its sovereignty, the United States still took a lot of benefits from the Panama Canal during the transitional phase of sovereignty recovery.
Statistics show that between 1930 and 1980, in just 50 years, the United States has made $45 billion in profits from the Panama Canal.
There is no other reason than the fact that the location of the Panama Canal is so critical. On the map, the Panama Canal is located between North and South America and is a transportation artery connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
In addition, Panama is located in a tropical maritime climate, with an average temperature of around 23-27 degrees throughout the year, and this unique climate also gives Panama quite good shipping conditions.
Especially in the last period, when shipping technology was not yet developed and piracy was rampant, the Panama Canal was able to minimize the shipping distance and reduce the risk of shipping.
Later, with the development of science and technology, shipping technology has also been rapidly improved. But as mentioned earlier, the Panama Canal is a major transportation artery connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, which can save at least about 60% of the distance.
Coupled with the fact that most of the people passing through the Panama Canal are merchant ships, the importance of the Panama Canal is even more highlighted.
The canal is the money printing machine
The Panama Canal can be described in one word, and that is "goose plucking", and as one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the location of the Panama Canal can be described as crucial.
By collecting tolls from boats, Panama is also known as the country that collects the most tolls in the world. This is not an exaggeration, as the Panama Canal serves at least 13,000 ships each year, carrying 5% of the world's trade freight.
Recall that on November 9, 2023, the Panama Authority issued a notice saying that due to the "congestion" of ships in the Panama Canal, it was decided to organize an auction to prioritize the passage through the Panama Canal.
In the end, Japan's oil giant Eneos Group won the right to pass through the Panama Canal for a whopping $3.975 million.
As for other shipping companies, they have also come up with prices ranging from $400,000 to $2 million to pass through the Panama Canal as soon as possible.
The fact that a single right of way can fetch such a high price shows that the Panama Canal is indeed a money printing machine.
No way, God eats food, who made the Panama Canal so important. However, attentive friends may have noticed that in recent years, the toll collected by the Panama Canal has been getting higher and higher, so what is going on?
China also has to pay sky-high tolls
If you want to talk about the source of the sky-high toll of the Panama Canal, it has to be attributed to the United States.
After Panama regained sovereignty over the canal, the United States also announced that it would stop regular maintenance work on the Panama Canal. In a word, I'm not done, you can do it yourself.
There is no way, the withdrawal of the United States will inevitably mean that the burden of repairing the canal will fall on the shoulders of the Panamanian government, which can only keep the maintenance costs up and running in order to keep the canal running.
However, as mentioned earlier, Panama has a temperate maritime climate, and the perennially rainy climate also leads to the short life of the Panama Canal.
This means that every once in a while, the Panamanian government has to come up with funds to repair the facility, especially if it has to be shut down due to special weather or because of the facility.
The Panamanian government had to bear a considerable part of the economic losses, so later, in 2016 and 2018, the Panamanian government also expanded the canal.
And every once in a while, the toll on the Panama Canal rises.
But that's not all, in 2019, because the river widened and the depth of the Panama Canal was not enough, the Panamanian government had no choice but to spend a high price to transport water from the nearby artificial lake into the canal.
Of course, these additional expenses have led to a lot of higher tolls in Panama.
Data shows that in 2023, the total revenue of the Panama Canal will even reach 4.7 billion US dollars, which is equivalent to saying that the income of the Panama Canal in three years can build a US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier!
For the mainland, Panama is also one of the mainland's economic partners, and China's annual cargo ships passing through the Panama Canal account for one-fifth of the mainland's annual traffic.
Every year, the mainland has to pay at least 10 billion yuan in tolls to Panama. Of course, the mainland's sincerity has also been rewarded.
In 2017, Panama and China formally established diplomatic relations. It is hoped that in the future, Panama and China can further deepen economic cooperation for mutual benefit.