WASHINGTON—United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today in a hearing sounded the alarm to Secretary of State Antony Blinken about the potential connection between China’s involvement in the Trend Maya Railway project and the recent seizure by Mexican military troops and civilian authorities of U.S.-based Vulcan Materials’ assets in Mexico.
“The rule of law is critical to the [U.S.-Mexico] relationship, and I am just shocked that President Lopez Obrador is operating in this manner. I think the even deeper shock, though, is the concern that a Chinese company is involved in building the section of the [Trend Maya] railway nearby,” Hagerty said.
“I also understand that this company that they’re using is deeply involved in building Chinese military infrastructure. They’re involved in militarizing the islands in the South China Sea that China has, you know, poured concrete into the ocean and built. I think the other thing I hope we can investigate is whether the Chinese are involved in financing this, but there are deep concerns there where you’ve got, potentially, Chinese companies working with the Mexican military to take adverse actions on U.S. assets, and in particular, seizing a deep-water port in that location,” Hagerty continued.
When asked by Hagerty if having control of the deep-water port that Mexican authorities seized would be would be in the interest of the Chinese Communist Party, Secretary Blinken agreed. “I think it theoretically would be, and it would certainly not be in the interest of Mexico.”
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