Using OSINT to Analyze Chinese Cyber Threats to the Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a vital global trade route, but it is also a point of strategic interest for major powers. As concerns grow over foreign influence and cybersecurity risks, analysts may rely on Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) to track emerging threats and assess potential vulnerabilities.
OSINT involves gathering and analyzing publicly available information to better understand specific topics—such as the potential for Chinese cyber operations targeting Panama’s infrastructure. Our Panama Canal Dashboard helps streamline this process by aggregating reporting on key developments related to the region, allowing analysts to track discussions around cybersecurity, infrastructure control, and geopolitical influence.
Below is an example of how an analyst can use OSINT techniques to assess recent concerns over Chinese cyber threats to the Panama Canal.
Background:
Many concerns erupt over the Panama Canal as the U.S. has put pressure on China by accusing the country of interference of operations between the head of the U.S. Southern Command and Panama. Additionally, by using port infrastructure and cyber operations to conduct surveillance on U.S. and partner operations. U.S. officials have highlighted China’s ability to control the major canal by their nearby physical and potential cyber infrastructure operations. The U.S has recently gained a major win in the Panama Canal with U.S. company, BlackRock Inc & Partners, purchasing control from CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd., a Hong Kong-based conglomerate, of a unit that operates ports near the Panama Canal.
OSINT Summary
- Beijing dismissed U.S. accusations of cyberattacks/focus on Panama with China’s spokesperson stating that “when it comes to the cybersecurity issues, China has been all along committed to safeguarding cybersecurity and carrying out cooperation in relevant areas based on the principle of win-win cooperation”
- Regarding cyber specific focus on Panama Canals infrastructure, there were no indications of China targeting specific targets, solely mentions of potential points
- U.S leaders highlighted digital logistics, AI driven cargo tracking, and automated systems as potential targets
- U.S. leaders highlighted that Chinese cyber control over ports in the Panama Canal can lead to manipulation or sabotage in the global supply/logistical operation in the area
- Concerns over Chinese developed software being embedded in other country’s IT systems and ports
- U.S. company, Blackrock Inc, has major win in purchasing control of a unit that operates ports near the Panama Canal
Report 1. China’s Grip on Panama Canal Poses Risks to US National Security, Senator Warns
‘This situation, I believe, poses acute risks to US national security,’ Ted Cruz says
Senator Ted Cruz on Tuesday warned against the China’s influence on the Panama Canal, saying it poses threat to US national security.
“Chinese companies are right now building a bridge across the canal at a slow pace so as to take nearly a decade, and Chinese companies control container ports at either end,” Cruz told lawmakers during a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation hearing.
Cruz said the partially completed bridge gives China the ability to block the canal without warning, and the ports give China ready observation posts to take to time that action.
“This situation, I believe, poses acute risks to US national security,” he added.
Members of the committee heard testimony from maritime experts on the impact of the Panama Canal on US trade and national security. Witnesses raised concern over a lack of US investment in port infrastructure in the region, which they say China has taken the lead on.
Cruz said the Panama Canal proved a “truly invaluable asset” sparing both cargo ships and warships the long journey around South America.
“When President (Jimmy) Carter gave it away to Panama, Americans were puzzled, confused, and many outraged. With the passage of time, many have lost sight of the canal’s importance, both to national security and to the US economy, not President Trump,” he added.
Trump has repeatedly expressed a desire to reclaim the canal, citing concerns that American ships are being overcharged.
The president also criticized the high tariffs for Panama Canal transit and argued that the 1999 transfer of control to Panama was intended as a gesture of cooperation, not a concession.
Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino in response has firmly said the canal’s ownership is non-negotiable.
Mulino reiterated that the Panama Canal remains fully under Panamanian control and that China plays no operational role.
The Panama Canal, a vital trade route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, is operated exclusively by Panama.
Report 2. Panama Exasperated Over Persistence of US Allegations of Chinese Control of Canal
PANAMA CITY (AP) — Panama’s president said Thursday that he had instructed the country’s foreign minister to not discuss the U.S. government’s allegations of Chinese interference in the operations of the Panama Canal with the visiting head of U.S. Southern Command.
The comments followed a dustup the day before when the U.S. embassy in Panama said one of the agenda items for Adm. Alvin Holsey’s visit would be discussing “efforts to protect the canal area from Chinese Communist Party influence & control.”
The Chinese Embassy in Panama quickly shot back with a statement saying the country has “never participated in the management nor operation of the Panama Canal.” It called allegations by the Trump administration that China controls the canal “pure lies.” It accused the U.S. government of trying to “sabotage” relations between China and Panama, but said its efforts will fail.
“We are not going to speak of lies,” Mulino said. “That would be to expand on the fascination created over the issue of China in Panama and the control of the Communist Party of the canal. For the love of God.”
Mulino has earlier tried to calm the situation with a post on the social platform X. “The bilateral agenda with the U.S. is important and relevant,” he wrote. “However, for Panama, that does not mean analyzing situations that aren’t true. We aren’t going to speak about what is not reality, but rather those issues that interest both countries.”
Mulino said Thursday that Panama has a team of people working in Washington, not only lobbying on the issue of the canal, but also trying to change the narrative in news coverage of the issue.
Holsey met with the Panama Canal’s administrator Thursday to discuss its strategic importance.
The admiral is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Panama since Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited earlier this month.
China’s alleged influence on the canal was at the top of his agenda, along with Panama’s efforts to assist the U.S. in controlling immigration.
U.S. concerns focus on a Hong Kong-based consortium that runs port facilities at either end of the canal. The canal itself is managed and operated by Panama and Panama has said the consortium’s 25-year extension to run the ports is being audited.
Trump has also complained that U.S. warships are charged for transiting while also obligated to protect it.
The United States built the canal in the early 1900s as it looked for ways to facilitate the transit of commercial and military vessels between its coasts. Washington relinquished control of the waterway to Panama on Dec. 31, 1999, under a treaty signed in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter.
Report 3. China Blasts US Official’s Baseless Accusations
Beijing dismissed on Friday the United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s remarks concerning China during his Latin America tour as “unfounded accusations aimed at sowing discord between the country and relevant Latin America and the Caribbean nations.”
Beijing has “lodged serious protests” to Washington and will firmly safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a statement.
Rubio, during his just concluded six-day visit to Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic, made several comments on China’s cooperation with LAC countries, the Panama Canal, Belt and Road cooperation, 5G and cybersecurity, and the one-China principle. He also claimed to “counter the influence of the Chinese Communist Party in the hemisphere.”
The groundless comments from the US “steeped in Cold-War mentality and ideological bias” interfere in China’s internal affairs and undermine China’s legitimate and lawful rights and interests, the statement said.
“The US pointing fingers at normal cooperation between LAC countries and a third country shows no respect for LAC countries,” the spokesperson said.
“China never attaches any strings to the practical cooperation with LAC countries, or target any third party,” the spokesperson said, highlighting the mutually beneficial nature of cooperation, which has delivered tangibly to relevant countries and made lives better for the local population.
Regarding the Panama Canal, the spokesperson said China has never participated in managing or operating the Canal, and never ever has it interfered.
“The world is not blind to the truth that who is keeping the Canal neutral and thriving and who keeps threatening to ‘take back’ the Canal,” the statement said.
Describing the Belt and Road Initiative as an initiative for economic cooperation, the spokesperson expressed China’s firm opposition to the US’ smear campaign and attempt to sabotage the Belt and Road cooperation, saying it once again exposes the US’ hegemonism.
When it comes to the cybersecurity issues, the spokesperson said China has been all along committed to safeguarding cybersecurity and carrying out cooperation in relevant areas based on the principle of win-win cooperation.
On the Taiwan question, the statement reaffirmed that the Taiwan question is purely China’s internal affair which “brooks no foreign interference”.
“The series of comments fully demonstrate that the new US administration has attempted to regard the Western Hemisphere, especially the Latin America, as its backyard, reviving a Monroe Doctrine for the new era,” said Zhang Tengjun, deputy director of the Department for American Studies at the China Institute of International Studies.
Report 4. “Strategic Maritime Chokepoints”: Subcommittee Hearing Examines Threats From China’s Influence Over Panama Canal, Western Hemisphere Ports
Today, Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security, led a hearing to examine the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) strategic port investments in the Western Hemisphere and how these investments impact our homeland security.
Testimony was provided by Isaac Kardon, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Asia Program; Matthew Kroenig, vice president and senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security; Ryan C. Berg, director of the Americas Program and head of the Future of Venezuela Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; and Cary Davis, president and CEO of the American Association of Port Authorities.
In the hearing, members questioned witnesses on how enterprises owned by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) could be leveraging commercial port operations in the Western Hemisphere to project power, enable surveillance, facilitate illicit trafficking, including the smuggling of fentanyl and its precursor chemicals, and position themselves to disrupt U.S. military logistics and trade routes during a geopolitical crisis or conflict.
Beyond its activities abroad, PRC state-owned enterprises have also gained significant access to U.S. port infrastructure, creating additional vulnerabilities in America’s supply chains. As highlighted in a joint investigative report by the House Committee on Homeland Security and the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the CCP, PRC entities maintain financial stakes and operational control over key terminals at major U.S. ports and also could potentially influence port operations through dominance in port equipment manufacturing, including ship-to-shore cranes. Read highlights of the hearing below.
Chairman Gimenez asked witnesses to detail the threat posed by China’s control over the Panama Canal, to which Kroenig answered:
“It poses a number of challenges. One, to the topic we just discussed, China is shipping fentanyl precursors through the Panama Canal. Second, by operating the ports there, including with surveillance technology, Chinese surveillance technology; they’re using that to collect information that’s going back to Beijing. [It] may not be classified information, but it’s sensitive information that China could use to exploit for an intelligence advantage. China could seek to hinder trade through the canal, which would have negative economic consequences for America’s wellbeing.”
Chairman Gimenez continued:
“How could they do that? How could they hinder trade? How can they stop it?”
Kroenig answered:
“Halting, disrupting trade in a place like that would not be very difficult. I think we’ve seen in other cases where ships get stuck in say, the Suez Canal––global trade really takes a hit. So, I think there are a number of things they could do to hinder trade, such as putting a ship in the canal and not letting other ships go through. So, there’s the economic dimension and then there is the military dimension in the event of a crisis or war. Hindering U.S. naval vessels––that could make it more difficult for the United States to project military power where it needs to go.”
Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Chairman Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) asked about the impacts of cybersecurity on our port infrastructure, especially amid increased threats in cyberspace from China-affiliated threat actors:
“Modern port operations rely heavily on digital logistics, AI driven cargo tracking, and automated systems––making them highly dependent on cyber networks and interconnected technologies. If the People’s Republic of China controlled ports in Latin America or even PRC-affiliated terminals within U.S. ports were compromised, it could provide the Chinese Communist Party with the capability to conduct espionage, manipulate global supply chains or even sabotage critical logistics operations in a crisis scenario. In your assessment, how susceptible are Western Hemisphere ports to cyber intrusions or sabotage by PRC-affiliated entities?”
Davis answered:
“I personally sit on a DHS Maritime Sector Coordinating Council, where we share threat information across the maritime supply chain, not even just ports, but tug and barge, carriers, and marine terminals. So, we have fora, including the ISAC, Information Security Analysis Center, where we share information about threats across all the players in the chain. Ultimately, I point to the LOGINK example. This was a Chinese-developed software. I am not sure of its status in use at ports around the world, but this is a great success story of U.S. government in partnership with industry, identifying something that carried too much risk that we didn’t want to upload or use in our IT and OT at ports. And so, we stiff-armed it and said, ‘We’re not going to use this at U.S. ports.’ I see that as a great success story in terms of the collaboration with industry and government.”
Rep. Sheri Biggs (R-SC) asked about China’s ability to undermine U.S. sovereignty and our strategic presence throughout the Western Hemisphere:
“The People’s Republic of China’s growing control over strategic maritime chokepoints, its engagement in illegal fishing, and the suspected use of commercial shipping for surveillance and illicit trafficking all directly threaten U.S. homeland security. […] How does the PRC’s expanding influence over global shipping routes and strategic ports, including in Latin America and the Caribbean, impact U.S. homeland security and the Coast Guard’s ability to police illicit trade and trafficking.”
Kardon answered:
“I believe that the extraordinary market share of Chinese firms in global shipping and actually across all the verticals that I would include. Shipbuilding prominently, port investments, of course, shipping itself, containers, leasing, etc., gives China a strategic advantage in the modern economic system. […] I for one have studied a lot of Chinese strategist writings about the famous American naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan, also a leading influence in understanding sea power is something much broader than just naval capability. The naval capability is actually subordinate to the access to markets and the freedom to maneuver around the world’s oceans. The PRC is systematically invested in those capabilities. When we think about Chinese maritime power, I would urge us to think, of course, of their growing blue water navy, but not exclusively. In fact, if we look at where they’re really differentiated, it’s areas like shipbuilding, in overall trade volumes, and in its position in global supply chains and value chains. So, I do think that this poses a broad strategic threat to the United States.”
Report 5. Victory For Trump: BlackRock Buys Panama Canal Ports
Hutchison agreed to sell control of a unit that operates ports near the Panama Canal after pressure from President Trump.
CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. , the Hong Kong-based conglomerate, agreed to sell control of a unit that operates ports near the Panama Canal following pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to limit Chinese interests in the region.
The deal was reached alongside a preliminary agreement for a consortium led by BlackRock Inc. to acquire units that own 80 percent of the Hutchison Ports group, which operates 43 ports in 23 countries , the company said in a statement Tuesday.
BlackRock buys Panama Canal ports.
BlackRock Inc. and its Global Infrastructure Partners unit, along with the ports division of Mediterranean Shipping Co., will also acquire 90 percent of Panama Ports Co. , which operates the two entrances at Balboa and Cristobal.
CK Hutchison said it would receive cash proceeds of about $19 billion from the deal.
The company is also freed from a major problem, as the Panamanian government had considered cancelling the company’s contract to operate the ports, Bloomberg reported last month. An audit of the contract had also been launched.
“ Hutchison could foresee what was coming: that strategically it was better for both them and Panama to pursue their interests elsewhere,” said Evan Ellis, a research professor of Latin America at the U.S. Army War College .
The deal could also ease pressure on Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino , who has been trying to resist Trump’s interests in controlling the Panama Canal , which was transferred to local government in 1999.
Trump accused China of taking control of the Panama Canal.
Trump has argued, without evidence, that China has taken control of the waterway and that the United States was paying too much for government ships to pass through.
“It is positive to the extent that it helps Mulino reduce the Chinese presence in Panama and appease Trump,” said Risa Grais-Targow, director for Latin America at Eurasia Group.
The White House and Panama’s presidential office had no immediate comment. According to a person familiar with the matter, the Trump administration and members of the U.S. Congress have been briefed on the deal.
What company operated the ports of the Panama Canal?
Hutchison has operated the ports at Balboa and Cristóbal under a concession initially signed in 1997 and, in 2021, extended until 2047.
The acquisition of the Panama Canal ports will require government approval, according to BlackRock .
The transaction represents the largest infrastructure deal in BlackRock’s history following the acquisition of infrastructure specialist GIP last year as part of its expansion into private markets.
BlackRock shares fell 3.1 percent to $936.66 at 10:45 a.m. in New York, hurt along with the rest of the market by an escalating trade war. CK Hutchison’s American depositary receipts rose 6.2 percent to $5.28.
“This agreement is a powerful illustration of the combined BlackRock and GIP platform and our ability to deliver differentiated investments for our clients,” Larry Fink, BlackRock’s chief executive, said in a statement.
“We are increasingly becoming the first choice for partners seeking patient, long-term capital.”
Cybersecurity concerns surrounding the Panama Canal’s infrastructure remain an area of interest for policymakers and security analysts. While there are no confirmed reports of Chinese cyberattacks targeting the canal, U.S. officials have raised concerns about potential vulnerabilities in digital logistics, AI-driven cargo tracking, and automated systems that could be exploited in the future. Monitoring public reporting on these issues is crucial for identifying risks before they escalate.
Our Panama Canal Dashboard helps track publicly available reporting related to cybersecurity concerns, foreign investments, and strategic developments in the region. By combining OSINT techniques with continuous monitoring, analysts can gain a clearer picture of emerging risks and potential shifts in influence.
Looking ahead, more specific intelligence sources could further enhance monitoring efforts. Access to real-time cyber threat intelligence, infrastructure security assessments, and network activity analysis could provide deeper insights into how foreign actors engage with Panama’s digital and physical infrastructure. As the cybersecurity landscape evolves, expanding data collection methods will be key to understanding and mitigating potential risks.
For a closer look at the latest reporting, explore the dashboard and stay informed on the evolving cybersecurity landscape of the Panama Canal.
