As Panama’s president laid a wreath to honor those who died protesting the American occupation 60 years ago, the ceremony attendees were resolute.

在巴拿马总统向60年前在抗议美国占领的运动中牺牲的人献花圈时，参加仪式的人态度坚定。

The commemoration this month came just days after President-elect Donald J. Trump falsely claimed China was controlling the Panama Canal and suggested he could use military force to retake the waterway.

就在本月举行纪念活动的数天前，美国候任总统特朗普错误地宣称，中国控制着巴拿马运河，并暗示他可能会使用武力将这条水道夺回。

The threat rippled through a country still haunted by the events of 1964, when students trying to plant the Panamanian flag in the U.S.-occupied canal zone were met with deadly force.

这个威胁在巴拿马全国引起不安，该国对1964年发生的事情仍记忆犹新：试图在美国占领的运河区升起巴拿马国旗的学生们遭到武力镇压，导致多人死亡。

“My brother did not die for nothing,” said Carlos E. Bonilla Cacó, whose brother was killed in the demonstrations that sparked the movement leading Panamanians to regain sovereignty.

“我哥哥没有白白地死去，”卡洛斯·E·博尼利亚·卡科说，他的哥哥在引发巴拿马人恢复运河区主权运动的示威活动中丧生。

The country’s leader agreed.

巴拿马领导人同意这个说法。

In the foothill near the Panama Canal Authority’s office, President José Raúl Mulino was firm. “The canal is and will continue to be Panamanian,” he said.

在运河管理局办公室附近的山脚下，巴拿马总统何塞·劳尔·穆利诺态度坚定。“运河现在是、将来也继续是巴拿马的，”他说。

巴拿马总统何塞·劳尔·穆利诺出席本月在巴拿马城举行的纪念抗议美国占领运动牺牲者的仪式。参加巴拿马城纪念活动的士兵们，摄于本月。

The statement directly challenged Mr. Trump, who some analysts say is only posturing to press Panama to lower fees for American goods traversing the canal, a subject he has recently railed against.

这个说法是对特朗普的直接挑战。一些分析人士认为，特朗普的“夺河论”只是虚张声势，为的是向巴拿马施压，让该国对穿越运河的美国船只降低收费，他最近对费用问题大为恼火。

But former American officials warn that he may alienate Panama at a time when China is trying to woo the country as an ally and expand its influence in Latin America.

但曾在美国政府工作的人警告，在中国试图将巴拿马作为盟友进行拉拢、扩大在拉丁美洲影响力之际，特朗普的“夺河论”可能会导致巴拿马疏远美国。

“Trump’s saber rattling could dampen the Panamanian government’s desire to broaden the relationship with the U.S. economically” said Ramon Escobar, who until September served on the National Security Council and is currently the managing director at Actum, a global consultancy firm.

“特朗普的武力威胁可能会削弱巴拿马政府扩大与美国经济关系的意愿，”拉蒙·埃斯科瓦尔说，他曾在美国国家安全委员会工作，直到去年9月，现在是全球咨询公司Actum的董事总经理。

He “may end up pushing them away at a time when there is a real opportunity to get Panama back into our orbit,” Mr. Escobar said.

埃斯科瓦尔说，特朗普“最终可能会在真正有机会让巴拿马回到我们的轨道上的时候把他们推开”。

The canal was constructed by the United States in the early 20th century, but Panama took back full control in 1999 and has since operated the waterway through the Panama Canal Authority.

虽然这条运河是美国在20世纪初修建的，但巴拿马在1999年收回了对运河的所有控制权，并在那之后一直通过巴拿马运河管理局运营这条水道。

Today, Panama holds special strategic significance for China because of the canal, but Beijing has been working to expand its influence in Latin America, and among developing countries more broadly. It has portrayed itself as an alternative to what it calls American hegemony and bullying, casting itself as a more sympathetic, fellow developing country.

如今，这条运河让巴拿马对中国具有特殊的战略意义，后者一直努力扩大在拉丁美洲以及对更大范围的发展中国家的影响力。中国把自己描述为其所谓美国霸权和霸凌的不同选择，称自己也是发展中国家，因此对其他发展中国家更有同情心。

And with significant investments in port construction worldwide, China is positioning itself to influence global commerce and monitor international activities.

中国对全球各地的港口建设项目进行了大量投资，正在让自己置于影响全球贸易、监控国际活动的位置。

Specifically, U.S. officials have grown increasingly concerned about two seaports at each end of the Panama Canal, which have been operated for decades by CK Hutchison Holdings, a company based in Hong Kong.

具体地说，美国官员已对位于巴拿马运河两端的两个海港越来越担心。几十年来，这两个海港一直由总部设在香港的长江和记实业公司运营。

While CK Hutchison is a publicly listed conglomerate whose largest owner is a Hong Kong billionaire family, Beijing could still use its national security laws to force the company to assist in intelligence-gathering or military operations.

虽然长江和记是一家上市公司，其最大股东是香港的一个亿万富翁家族，但中国仍可能使用国家安全法来迫使该公司协助政府的情报收集或军事行动。

Panamanian officials argue, however, that China doesn’t pose a risk. The canal is open to the public, they say, and any Chinese interference would be visibly obvious.

但巴拿马官员提出，中国不构成危险。他们说，运河的运营是公开的，中国的任何干预都会让人明显地觉察到。

“烈士日”在巴拿马城游行的群众。在本月的纪念活动上，人们在一个墓前悼念在1964年抗议美国占领的运动中牺牲的21名烈士。

“Anyone can use a satellite to see what is going in and out of the port,” Ilya Espino de Marotta, the deputy administrator of the Panama Canal, said in an interview last week. “The canal runs through the country, along national roads and is visible to the public.”

“任何人都能用卫星来观察港口的进出情况，”巴拿马运河副局长伊利亚·埃斯皮诺·德马罗塔上周在接受采访时说。“运河贯穿全国，河两边是国道，河上发生的事情公开可见。”

During his first administration, Mr. Trump did bring up the Panama Canal internally, indicating that he sees the waterway as unfinished business, said John Feeley, who served as U.S. ambassador to Panama from 2015 until 2018.

曾在2015年至2018年间担任美国驻巴拿马大使的约翰·菲利说，特朗普在他的第一个任期内确实在内部提过巴拿马运河，表明他将这条水道视为一件尚未了结的事务。

In June 2017, Mr. Trump met with the Panamanian president at the time, Juan Carlos Varela, and complained that the U.S. Navy was paying too much to traverse the canal — about $1 million annually, Mr. Feeley said. (That cost is so minuscule it would be akin to a rounding error in the Pentagon’s budget, analysts say.)

2017年6月，特朗普与当时的巴拿马总统胡安·卡洛斯·巴雷拉见面时曾抱怨，美国海军为穿越运河支付的费用过高——每年约100万美元，菲利说。（分析人士表示，这笔微不足道的费用只相当于五角大楼预算中四舍五入的误差。）

But Mr. Trump never brought up China’s presence or supposed influence over the canal even though just weeks previously Panama had broken off relations with Taiwan and aligned with Beijing, said Mr. Feeley, who attended the White House meeting between the leaders.

但特朗普从未提及中国在巴拿马运河的存在，或对运河的所谓影响力，尽管在两人见面的数周前，巴拿马刚与台湾断绝外交关系，转为承认北京，菲利说道。他当年参加了两名领导人在白宫举行的会晤。

The former ambassador said he tried to get the White House to focus on China’s rising influence in Panama, but the issue never grew to a level of serious alarm.

这名前大使表示，他曾试图让白宫把注意力集中在中国在巴拿马日益增长的影响力上，但这个问题从未发展到引起严重担忧的程度。

At the time, China was promising to invest in big-ticket infrastructure items in Panama, including a canal bridge, as part of its Belt and Road Initiative. Through the initiative Beijing has increased its influence globally by investing in seaports, roads and trains from Kenya to Sri Lanka and, most recently, Latin America. Critics say Beijing uses the program to saddle foreign governments with failing projects or unsustainable debt in order to wield China’s leverage.

中国当时曾承诺在巴拿马投资大型基础设施项目，包括在运河上建一座桥，作为“一带一路”计划的一部分。北京通过在肯尼亚、斯里兰卡以及最近的拉丁美洲等地投资海港、道路和铁路，增加了其全球影响力。批评人士说，中国为了增加本国影响力，使用“一带一路”计划让外国政府背负失败的项目或背上不可持续的债务。

Mr. Feeley said he tried to get American companies to bid on such projects to counter China. But the U.S. Embassy in Panama City never got the White House’s backing to persuade American companies to bid, he said.

菲利说，他曾试图让美国公司竞标这类项目，以抗衡中国。但在说服美国公司竞标上，美国驻巴拿马大使馆从未得到过白宫的支持。

“It’s not that we are losing to China in Latin America; in most cases we aren’t even showing up to the commercial battlefield,” Mr. Feeley said.

“并不是我们在拉丁美洲输给了中国；在大多数情况下，我们甚至没有出现在商业战场上，”菲利说。

Latin American governments like Panama’s have complained that when they put out bids for expensive infrastructure projects, the United States is often absent, forcing them to rely on others from Europe to China to get the work done.

巴拿马等拉丁美洲国家的政府抱怨，他们为造价高昂的基础设施项目招标时，美国往往不参加竞标，迫使他们靠欧洲国家或中国来完成项目。

“The U.S. isn’t bidding on big infrastructure projects here, but China is,” said Giulia de Sanctis, the president of the Panamanian Association of Business Executives. “Are we supposed to tell them now: ‘It’s time to get out of Panama; Trump doesn’t like you.’ Would anyone feel safe investing here then?”

“美国不参加这里大型基础设施项目的竞标，但中国参加了，”巴拿马企业高管协会会长朱莉娅·德桑克蒂斯说。“难道我们现在应该告诉他们：‘是时候离开巴拿马了；特朗普不喜欢你们。’如果我们这样做，还会有人觉得在这里投资是安全的吗？”

The Panama Canal Authority has said that while the United States built the canal for military purposes, the Panamanians developed it into a major hub of global trade.

巴拿马运河管理局称，美国修建运河是出于军事目的，是巴拿马人将运河发展为全球贸易的一个主要枢纽。

Once the U.S. military handed it over, the authority invested more than $5 billion to widen the waterway and accommodate the giant cargo ships that travel from the United States to East Asia, its most popular route.

美国军方将运河移交给巴拿马后，运河管理局投资了50多亿美元拓宽水道，使其得以容纳巨型货船，巴拿马运河是从美国向东亚运货的巨型货船最喜欢用的航道。

巴拿马运河边上有大量的集装箱。巴拿马官员说，在美国军方将运河管理权移交给巴拿马后，运河管理局投资了50多亿美元拓宽水道。一艘正在穿越运河的货船，摄于本月。

“If it wasn’t for our investment, the canal would be irrelevant on the scale of global trade,” said Ms. Espino de Marotta.

“如果我们没有进行投资的话，从全球贸易的尺度来看，这条运河会无关紧要，”埃斯皮诺·德马罗塔说。

“Our neutrality is our greatest business asset, and it enables us to be a route for global commerce,” she said. At the Atlantic entrance of the canal, three ports are separately operated by companies based in Hong Kong, Taiwan and the United States, she said.

“运河的中立是我们最大的商业资产，它让我们能够成为全球贸易的一条路线，”她说。运河大西洋入口处的三个港口分别由香港、台湾和美国的公司运营，她说。

“These ports have been managed by Hong Kong since 1997, throughout Trump’s first administration,” she added. “Trump never said a thing about it then, so why now?”

“这些港口自1997年以来一直由香港公司管理，在特朗普第一次担任总统的整个任期也是这样，”她补充道。“特朗普那时从未对此有过任何说法，为什么现在有问题了？”

Some Panamanians are reluctant to allow China to invest further in the country. Although Mr. Varela shifted Panama’s diplomatic recognition to China from Taiwan and entered into several business agreements with Beijing, subsequent governments have sought to scale back these commitments.

有些巴拿马人不愿让中国在该国进一步投资。尽管巴雷拉断绝了巴拿马与台湾的外交关系，转向承认中国，并与中国政府达成了多项商业协议，但他之后的政府已试图缩小与中国合作的规模。

Ramón Martínez, who served as the minister of commerce after Mr. Varela stepped down, expressed his discomfort with the political and economic agreements made by the earlier administration with China. He said he halted a free-trade agreement with China that was under negotiation. The bridge over the canal that China pledged to build was also paused.

在巴雷拉卸任后担任商务部长的拉蒙·马丁内斯说，他对前任政府与中国达成的政治和经济协议感到不安。他说，他停止了一项正在与中国谈判的自由贸易协定。中国承诺修建的运河大桥项目也暂停了下来。

Mr. Martínez emphasized that for Panama, its most important ally will always be the United States.

马丁内斯强调说，巴拿马最重要的盟友永远是美国。

Last week, hundreds of tourists gathered on a terrace at the Miraflores Visitors Center, giving them a bird’s-eye view of the Panama Canal. They waved as a towering cruise ship squeezed its way through the canal.

上周，数百名游客聚集在米拉弗洛雷斯游客中心的露台上，俯瞰巴拿马运河。他们向一艘正在穿过运河的邮轮挥手，这艘高耸的邮轮的宽度让其刚好能够从运河通过。

“At first it made me laugh, the insanity of it all,” said Jacqueline Williams of Mr. Trump’s threats against Panama as she waved to a passing cruise ship. The 67-year-old nonprofit educator was visiting the canal from New York City.

“刚听到时我想笑，那个说法太荒唐了，”杰奎琳·威廉姆斯在谈到特朗普对巴拿马发出威胁时说，她也在向那艘穿过运河的邮轮挥手。这名从事非赢利教育的女子现年67岁，她从美国纽约市来巴拿马运河旅游。

“But then you think: This is a guy who idolizes Putin,” she said, referring to the Russian president. “Trump said on the campaign trail he wanted to restore peace to the world, but now he is threatening military expansionism.”

“但后来一想：这是个崇拜普京的人，”她说。“特朗普在竞选期间曾说，他要恢复世界和平，但他现在却在威胁要推行军事扩张主义。”

游客们聚集在观景台上看一艘邮轮穿越巴拿马运河，摄于本月。