US will take back Panama canal from China influence: Pentagon
The United States will not allow China to jeopardise the operations of the Panama Canal, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth warned during a visit to the Central American nation on Tuesday.
Hegseth is the second senior US official to visit Panama since President Donald Trump took office in January, vowing to “take back” the US-built canal to counter what he sees as China”s disproportionate influence over the waterway.
“Today, the Panama Canal faces ongoing threats,” Hegseth said in a speech at a police station located at the entry to the shipping route.
Speaking alongside Panama”s President Jose Raul Mulino, Hegseth said the US and Panama together would “take back the Panama Canal from China”s influence” and keep it open to all nations, using the “deterrent power of the strongest, most effective and most lethal fighting force in the world.”
He claimed that China”s control of critical infrastructure in the canal area gave Beijing the power to conduct spying activities across Panama, making Panama and the United States “less secure, less prosperous and less sovereign.”
The Chinese Embassy in Panama issued a statement refuting Hegseth”s claim that Beijing interferes in the operations of the canal.
“China has never taken part in the management or operation of the Panama Canal, nor has it interfered in issues” concerning the waterway, the statement said, calling on Washington to halt “blackmail” and “plundering” of Panama and other countries of the region.
It labelled Hegseth”s comments “not at all responsible or founded” and said the United States “has orchestrated a sensationalist campaign based on the “China threat theory” so as to undermine cooperation between China and Panama.
“China has always respected Panama”s sovereignty with regard to the canal,” the embassy said.
The Panama Ports concession to operate Balboa port on the Pacific side of the canal and Cristobal port on the Atlantic side was first granted in 1997 and renewed for another 25 years in 2021.
Source: Marzieh Rahmani