No. of Recommendations: 5
Take Panama. China wants to make sure the Canal is always open to their ships. Rather than threaten Panama, China's approach is to "kill 'em with kindness" - invest a ton in Panama, offer to build all kinds of infrastructure there (a fourth bridge across the Canal! High speed rail to Costa Rica!), foster positive working relationships with the elected government, etc. They are smart enough to realize that they don't actually need to own the Canal - they just need the government of Panama to regard them positively. So they invite Panama to join the Belt and Road (which Panama did in 2018), and promote tons of projects in the country.
And illustrates what I was saying a few days ago...in this case, it was "China First" policy. Indirect, and not obvious (like Chinese infrastructure in China), but it greatly benefits China to be investing these resources in (for example) Panama.
"America First" isn't going to come from rounding up all the brown people and deporting them. It's about strategic relationships, cooperation, foreign aid and investments. Those sorts of policies are "America First" because they make us economically stronger, and more secure. Having China in our hemisphere does not make us more secure.
