The Chinese Embassy in Panama published a bizarre image on Monday of a sobbing shumai, a form of dumpling typically left open on the top, with a microphone stuck into it as a form of protest against American diplomats.
The Chinese state newspaper Global Times, which published an extensive analysis piece praising the cartoon, claimed that the image was meant to mock the alleged paranoia of American officials who warn leaders in friendly countries that Chinese technology giants such as Huawei and ZTE pose a security threat. The Chinese companies, close to the communist regime, have been repeatedly accused of developing computer hardware believed to present a significant security risk to consumers, exposing them to “back doors” that the Chinese Communist Party uses for espionage. The Communist Party aggressively denies such espionage claims despite the top intelligence officials from the United States and several other Western nations warning that experts have discovered significant national security threats from using Chinese telecommunications products.
President Donald Trump spent much of his first term warning allied nations to move away from using Huawei and ZTE products, even when they offer products at significantly lower prices than competitors. This policy has continued in his second term, especially aiding Latin American allies that are dealing with Chinese technology concerns domestically. In Panama, American Ambassador Kevin Marino Cabrera shared a message on Monday from Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Juan Pablo Segura describing Chinese telecommunications technology as “high-risk.”
“High-risk technologies from Chinese companies like Huawei, ZTE, Hikvision, Hytera, Dahua, and DJI is ultimately subject to the wishes of the Chinese Communist government,” the message read. “Chinese law forces these suppliers to cooperate with Beijing’s intelligence services, creating risks of spying, hacking, and network shutdowns.”
“We urge U.S. partners in the Americas to quickly switch to trusted suppliers to protect their people and their sovereignty,” Segura suggested.
The Chinese Embassy in Panama responded with the image of the shumai with a spying microphone “bug” stuck in it. The Spanish-language caption roughly translates to, “Why do you think I am also bugged?”
The embassy shared the image on social media with the caption, “For those who only think in geopolitical calculations, shumai could also be bugged.”
Speaking to the Global Times, Chinese Ambassador to Panama Zhang Xiangyan justified the strange image by claiming, without explanation, “Nothing is more representative of Panama’s local characteristics than a Chinese-style breakfast.” While Panama is home to a robust Chinese community relative to other countries in the region, it is unclear what is representatively “Panamanian” about “Chinese-style breakfast,” or how the shumai will help regular Panamanians understand China’s point of view.
Zhang nonetheless insisted that the cartoon was a “more accessible and impactful artistic form to expose the absurdity of the U.S.’s smears against China.” Zhang emphasized that the cartoon was published after “a firm protest” against the offending American diplomatic statement. The Global Times recalled that the Chinese embassy in Panama released a statement condemning America’s “blatant technological bullying” in warning of the national security risks of using Chinese-made telecommunications products.
The campaign in Panama follows a challenging two years for Chinese diplomacy in the country. Under conservative President José Raúl Mulino, Panama exited China’s predatory Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), with U.S. support, last year. Panama’s Supreme Court also ruled invalid contracts allowing the Hong Kong-based company CK Hutchison control of critical ports on either side of the Panama Canal, a move the Chinese government pressured Panama to somehow overrule despite constitutional limits on the powers of the branches of government. CK Hutchison announced last week that it is seeking $1.5 billion in damage for violation of contract as a result of the Supreme Court decision.
While the Chinese embassy in Panama may have offered the most bizarre response to the State Department’s warning to Latin American countries this week, it was far from the only Chinese diplomatic outpost to express anger at the statement. In the Dominican Republic, the Chinese embassy in Santo Domingo published an outraged screed condemning America’s message of caution regarding Huawei and similar companies, describing it as “nothing more than pure fabrication and a deliberate distortion of reality.”
“These Chinese companies are firmly committed to enriching and improving people’s lives, and they are, without a doubt, reliable and trustworthy partners,” the Chinese embassy claimed. “The U.S. comments amount to technological intimidation and unilateral coercion; any reasonable person can see this clearly and will not be fooled.”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry similarly responded from Beijing.
“We advise the U.S. to stop its political manipulation, stop interfering with sovereign nations’ right to independently choose cooperation partners, and instead contribute to prosperity and stability in Latin America and the Caribbean through concrete actions,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters during his regular press briefing on Monday.