Don’t let Beijing “serve the whole bowl”! The United States invests 150 million in Peruvian port infrastructure

Peru will move its main naval base from the western coastal city of Callao in order to expand the Port of Callao. The U.S. State Department said on the 12th that it has invested US$4.5 million (approximately NT$148 million) to provide infrastructure design for the Port of Callao.

Cayo is the busiest port in Peru, located less than 80 kilometers south of Chancay, a superport built and controlled by China.

According to reports, this amount of money used for the infrastructure of the Port of Cayenne was disclosed in the announcement of Thomas DiNanno, the US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, during his visit to Peru and Colombia earlier this month; the funds come from the "Foreign Military Financing" program set aside in previous years to help partner countries purchase US defense supplies and services.

According to the notice, Di Nanno visited the Port of Cayo during his visit to Peru "to learn about U.S. support and the progress of the port's modernization and security plans," but it did not clearly indicate whether these plans were related to the relocation of the naval base.

In addition, Di Nanno also announced that the United States will allocate US$20 million (approximately NT$657 million) in the 2026 fiscal year to build Peru’s F-16 fighter aerial refueling capabilities to “expand the range and effectiveness of the Peruvian fighter fleet.”

Earlier this year, the U.S. State Department approved an arms sales package worth US$1.5 billion (approximately NT$47.3 billion) to sell equipment and services to Peru to support Peru in relocating the naval base in Cayo a few kilometers away and expanding the commercial port in Cayo.

Chanquet is the first port built by China in South America. It was personally unveiled by Chinese leader Xi Jinping and will be officially put into operation in early 2025. It will help South American countries bypass the ports of Mexico and the United States and trade with Asia, impacting the international trade and shipping business of the United States, Mexico, and Central American countries.