Majority-owned by the giant China Ocean Shipping group, known as Cosco, Chancay promises to speed trade between Asia and South America, eventually benefiting customers as far away as Brazil with shorter sailing times across the Pacific for everything from blueberries to copper. …

The U.S. worries that China’s control over what could become South America’s first true global commercial hub will allow Beijing to further strengthen its grip over the region’s resources, deepen its influence among America’s closest neighbors and eventually plant its military nearby.

“This will further make it easier for the Chinese to extract all of these resources from the region, so that should be concerning,” Army Gen. Laura Richardson, who heads the U.S. Southern Command, said last month at a Florida International University security conference.

Former American officials say the project highlights a diplomatic void that the U.S. has left in Latin America as it has concentrated resources elsewhere, most recently in Ukraine and the Middle East. …

Located 50 miles north of Peru’s capital, Lima, the $3.5 billion port—funded by Chinese bank loans—will be the first on South America’s Pacific coast able to receive megaships because of its nearly 60 feet of depth, though other ports in the region have large container-handling capacity. That will allow companies to send cargo on those vessels directly between Peru and China rather than on smaller ships that must go first to Mexico or California. …

Soon after the port was agreed to in 2019, Chinese state media gushed with predictions of Peru’s future as a hub in Chinese-South American trade and suggestions it could help Beijing with other priorities, such as a submarine cable link. …

Peru has brushed aside U.S. concerns. Congress in Peru, a country of 33 million that is far from any potential global conflicts, has to approve the arrival of foreign military, not a port operator.

Peru’s Foreign Minister Javier González-Olaechea said that if the U.S. is concerned about China’s growing presence in Peru, then it should step up its own investments, adding that “everyone is welcome” to invest. …

Chancay is an echo of a Cosco port in Greece in 2016 that gave China a foothold in southern Europe. Today, Chinese companies control or operate terminals at roughly 100 foreign seaports. According to AidData, a research lab at the Virginia university William & Mary, they have financed almost $30 billion of work in at least 46 countries between 2000 and 2021.

Port investments have provided China diplomatic leverage with investment-hungry nations. Chinese navy ships have called at over a third of the ports its companies own or operate around the world. …

The U.S. has discussed concerns with Peruvian officials about China’s control over vital infrastructure, including Chancay, said a former U.S. official and ex-Peruvian official with knowledge of the talks. What worries Washington is the interplay between China’s commercial companies and the government—specifically the military. Ports, and the equipment in them, can have both commercial and military uses. …

“The Americans have been somewhat asleep,” said John Youle, a prominent businessman in Peru and former U.S. diplomat. “Suddenly they’ve woken up.”

That shift could be on display in mid-November when Xi is expected to be in Peru for an Asia-Pacific summit. Whether or not President Biden attends the summit—scheduled shortly after November’s election—the Chinese leader is likely to steal the show with a project designed to strengthen Beijing’s influence in the Western Hemisphere. …

Particularly tantalizing for China is getting Brazil to use the port. Since China overtook the U.S. to become Brazil’s biggest trading partner in 2009, one major obstacle remains: Brazil faces the wrong ocean. …

What do you think of China’s plans in Peru and beyond? Share your thoughts and prayers with other intercessors in the comments.

(Excerpt from The Wall Street Journal. Photo Credit: China News Service, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons)