A sharp diplomatic clash between Washington and Beijing has put Greece in an uncomfortable position, with the strategically vital Port of Piraeus at the heart of the dispute.
Guilfoyle described China’s majority ownership of Piraeus as “unfortunate,” noting that China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) was the only bidder during Greece’s severe financial crisis a decade ago. She suggested that Chinese influence could be “bypassed” through expanded American investment in other Greek ports or even by putting Piraeus itself up for sale.
“Something could be worked out, whether you pursue a path of enhancing output in other areas or perhaps that Piraeus could be for sale,” she said.
China strikes back
The Chinese Embassy in Athens responded with unusual ferocity on 18 November, calling Guilfoyle’s remarks “malicious slander” against normal Sino-Greek commercial cooperation and a “serious interference in Greece’s internal affairs.” The statement accused the ambassador of displaying a “Cold War mentality and hegemonic logic.”
The embassy stressed that the port “belongs forever to the Greek people” and “must not become a victim of geopolitical confrontation.” It highlighted how COSCO’s investment rescued and transformed Piraeus during Greece’s darkest financial years, turning it into the fourth-largest container port in Europe, creating thousands of jobs, and making it the Mediterranean gateway for China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
During Greece’s decade-long debt crisis that began in 2009, China seized the opportunity to invest heavily in the struggling nation, aiming to transform it into a strategic gateway for Chinese exports into Europe. While Western companies fled, deterred by Greece’s financial turmoil and notorious bureaucracy, Beijing moved in the opposite direction—quietly and decisively acquiring key assets like the port of Piraeus and pouring billions into infrastructure.
Beijing warned that pressuring Greece to break existing contracts “is doomed to fail” and reflects a mindset that “imposes its own thinking on others.”
Greece treads carefully
Athens has sought to defuse the row while protecting its interests on both sides. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lana Zochiou reiterated that the 2016 sale of a 67% stake in the Piraeus Port Authority to COSCO occurred when no other viable bids existed. “Greece respects the agreements concluded in the past,” she said, adding that ownership issues are not a matter for the Foreign Ministry.
At the same time, Greece is moving ahead with U.S.-backed alternatives. Following a meeting between Ambassador Guilfoyle and Development Minister Takis Theodorikakos, Athens accelerated plans to transform the port of Elefsina, west of the capital, into a major new logistics hub. Guilfoyle welcomed the project, saying she looked forward to seeing Elefsina “evolve into a logistics hub for the region.”
The bigger picture
The episode is only the latest chapter in Washington’s broader campaign to curb Chinese ownership of critical European infrastructure. Piraeus is seen in the U.S. as a strategic beachhead for Beijing in Europe and a key node in China’s Maritime Silk Road.
For Greece, the stakes are high. COSCO’s investment has been an undisputed economic success: container traffic has surged from 3.7 million TEUs in 2016 to over 10 million today, and the port now ranks among Europe’s top performers. Yet Athens is also deepening defense and energy ties with the United States, including American LNG supplies to southeast Europe and joint military facilities.
Greek officials insist they are not choosing sides. The government wants to honor binding contracts with China while remaining open to new U.S. and European investment that can diversify and strengthen the country’s infrastructure portfolio.
The public spat underscores how smaller nations like Greece are increasingly caught in the crossfire of U.S.-China strategic competition. With Piraeus symbolizing both economic revival and geopolitical leverage, Athens is working hard to ensure the port remains a source of prosperity rather than a bargaining chip in a new great-power rivalry.
As one senior Greek diplomat privately put it by eKathimerini: “We welcomed Chinese investment when Europe and America looked the |other way. Now that everyone wants a piece of Greece, we have to make sure no one pushes us into breaking promises – or into closing the door to new opportunities.”
Background: wasn’t the EU responsible for China’s acquisition?
During the height of Greece’s debt crisis in 2015–2016, the European institutions (chiefly the European Commission, ECB and IMF, acting as the Troika) imposed stringent privatisation conditions on successive bailout packages, requiring Athens to raise €50 billion from asset sales by 2022. When the tender for a 51% (later increased to 67%) controlling stake in the Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) was launched in 2014–2015, no major European port operator or consortium submitted a binding offer that met both the valuation and the strategic criteria set by the Greek privatisation agency (TAIPED).
COSCO Shipping (then COSCO Pacific), the only bidder willing to pay the requested €368.5 million for the initial stake and commit to €350 million in mandatory investments, emerged as the winner in April 2016. In short, intense EU-mandated pressure to privatise, combined with the conspicuous absence of competitive European bids, effectively delivered one of Europe’s largest and most strategic ports into Chinese hands.