China's Panama checkmate.
how Beijing blocked BlackRock and exposed the Empire's canal gambit.
Good day, spectators,
So just a quick one today to talk about how the so-called ‘rules-based order’ really works—with a wonderful masterclass unfolding right now in Panama.
In one corner: BlackRock, the $11 trillion Wall Street behemoth that probably owns your pension fund and also half the planet. In the other we have China, which just handed the Empire another stunning defeat by blocking the sale of strategic Panama Canal ports. You’ll remember, current Emperor Trump desperately wanted to get his bizarrely-proportioned hands on these ports and said he would.
Watch: Emperor Trump says he ‘will take the Panama Canal.’
The backstory is pretty interesting to be honest.
the Empire’s play.
On the 4th of March, 2025: BlackRock and the Swiss-Italian shipping giant MSC announced a $23 billion deal to get their hands on two critical Panama Canal ports from Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison. Donald Trump’s was couldn’t contain his excitement:
‘We’re taking back the Canal from China!’ he celebrated.
CK Hutchison insisted this was ‘purely commercial.’ But in today’s New Cold War, there’s no such thing and that they even thought that was acceptable is bizarre.
Beijing says no.
Enter China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR). Last week, they vetoed the deal understandably citing ‘public interest’ and antitrust concerns.
This wasn’t just bureaucratic red tape though.
People in China genuinely began to see CK Hutchison’s billionaire owner Li Ka-shing as a ‘traitor’ for even entertaining the sale. They didn't like the idea of putting this very strategic asset into the hands of an imperialistic power that only brings war and death. Fair enough. I think many of us trust China far more than the US.
These are ports that handles 3% of global trade so I think most of us would agree that letting BlackRock (and by proxy the US) control them is a terrible idea.
Trump’s chest-thumping about ‘reclaiming the Canal’ certainly annoyed Xi Jinping and likely accelerated the veto. But in the end it’s just classic China recently. Outplaying the Empire once again. Always one step ahead.
this is great.
This recent Panama ports saga is a perfect microcosm of today's geopolitical landscape. While the Empire blusters and boasts, China quietly makes the decisive moves. What we're witnessing isn't just about shipping contracts or trade routes but a massive, fundamental shift in global power dynamics.
The so-called ‘rules-based order’ has always been a convenient fiction, selectively enforced when it benefits Western capital. But now the script is flipped. BlackRock's $11 trillion can't buy everything anymore. Trump's imperial declarations are as flaccid as he is. The old playbook—where corporate America and Washington's war machine seamlessly coordinate their global conquest—suddenly doesn't work when faced with a power that can simply say ‘no.’
Perhaps the most revealing aspect is how quickly the mask slips. One moment it's ‘free markets’ and ‘global commerce'; the next it's naked imperial ambition. As the Empire continues its desperate scramble to maintain hegemony, expect more of these revealing moments where the true nature of the system stands exposed for all to see.
The question isn't whether the Empire is in decline—it's how gracefully it will accept its new place in the multipolar world that's already here.
I don’t expect grace. What do you think? Comment below, I love to chat.
(As always, thanks for reading, and please give this post a ❤️ and restack below.)
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Read more from the spectacle:
Were you paid by Xi or Beijing to write this article?
I wouldn’t call it a checkmate.
Indeed this is Chinese government calling the bluff of the US government.
What’s the next move?
I suggest you look at Myanmar where “rebels” have hijacked rare earth mining operations that were supplying ore to refining operations in China.
Or at Pakistan where infrastructure projects being built by Chinese companies are beset by “terrorists”.
The US government and capitalist oligarchs ( yes including those who manage and own the large shares in financial companies like Blackkrock) are not normal human beings. They are boundlessly greedy psychopaths. Gangsters. Don’t get lulled by their attempted facade of “laws” and their influence- or family connections-purchased degrees from famous universities. These are psychopathic criminals.
Consider that before calling it a “checkmate”.
Expect to see shipping from China heading though the Panama Canal suffer from “terrorism”, or “piracy”. Or even the canal itself suffering damage.