China to Build A Transoceanic Canal in Nicaragua
Tuesday, June 11th, 2013June 11, 2013
Nicaragua has awarded a Chinese company a 100-year concession to build a canal across Nicaragua, the Nicaraguan government announced last week. The $40-billion waterway would provide an alternative to the Panama Canal, currently the only shortcut connection between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The new canal would be cut east to west across southern Nicaragua into Lake Nicaragua, which is only 12 miles (19 kilometers) from the Pacific Ocean.
According to Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, the new canal will be large enough to allow passage for mega-container ships with a dead weight of up to 250,000 tons (280,000 metric tons). A ship that size is more than double the size of the vessels that will be able to pass through the Panama Canal, even after its current expansion.
International affairs experts suggest that a second, Chinese-controlled canal could have profound geopolitical ramifications. Such a waterway would reinforce China’s growing influence on global trade and weaken American influence in Asia. The United States built the Panama Canal, which was completed in 1914, and controlled it until 1999.
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