Yet as CK Hutchison seeks to sell its majority shares in dozens of other port projects worldwide, China's COSCO—the world's fourth-largest shippingcompany—hopes to fill the void. If the state-owned shipping giant succeeds, security risks for the U.S. could climb at other ports in Latin American and the Caribbean, according to recent analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.
China commands the world’s largest export machine and, through COSCO and other state-owned enterprises, holds stakes across a network of global ports that translate into structural influence in key maritime routes. A Newsweekinvestigation previously found associated risks including Beijing's political leverage in host countries or possible dual civilian and military use of infrastructure by the People’s Liberation Army.
