The Chinese embassy in Athens on Thursday revisited the abruptly arisen issue involving the port of Piraeus, the biggest and busiest such facility in Greece, following high-profile comments last week by the new US ambassador bemoaning the fact that the port is managed by Shanghai-based Cosco since 2016.

Taking to its official account on X, the embassy post read: “…Both in China and in Greece there are two sayings with similar meaning: “True friendship is revealed in difficult times,” say the Chinese, “A good friend is known in times of need,” agree the Greeks. The people of Greece, who have thousands of years of wisdom and culture behind them, know well who stands by them as a genuine partner with mutual respect. #ChinaGreece #friendship”. A panoramic photograph of the port of Piraeus accompanied the post.
New US ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle, a well-known conservative media personality in the United States and one-time Trump adviser, referred to Piraeus during a wide-ranging television interview last week, saying among others, that there are “ways to work around” the fact that the major port is controlled by a state-affiliated Chinese multinational.

US ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle

The Piraeus Port Authority managed a company that owns and operates Greece’s largest and busiest port, now billed as either number one or two in the Mediterranean and in the top 10 worldwide.