China’s Global Network of Ports Is Too Vast for Trump to Unravel

Sitting on either end of the Panama Canal are two massive ports operated by the same Chinese company. Any disruption at the waterway—the conduit for roughly 40% of US container traffic—could cost American businesses hundreds of millions of dollars a day, which explains why President Donald Trump has set his sights on ensuring that the critical maritime choke point is beyond the reach of Beijing’s influence. “China is operating the Panama Canal, and we didn’t give it to China. We gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back,” Trump said during his inaugural address in January.

Trump’s demand that ...