US WILL TAKE BACK PANAMA CANAL FROM CHINA’S INFLUENCE: PENTAGON CHIEF

Wed 09 April 2025:

The US will take back the Panama Canal from China’s influence, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday.

“Together we will take back the Panama Canal from China’s influence, and we will do this along with other capable, like-minded allies and partners,” Hegseth told a news conference with Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino in Panama City.

Hegseth said US relations with the Central American nation will continue to grow in the months and years ahead.

“I want to be very clear: China did not build this canal. China does not operate this canal, and China will not weaponize this canal,” he added.

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Trump has repeatedly claimed that China controls the Panama Canal, a vital 51-mile waterway linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and vowed to “take it back” from Panama. The U.S. built the canal in 1914 and handed it over to Panama in 1999 under a treaty ensuring its neutrality.

Trump argues Panama overcharges U.S. ships—its biggest user at 40% of traffic—and points to China’s influence as a threat, citing a Hong Kong-based company, Hutchison Ports, managing two of the canal’s five ports since 1997.

Panama and China deny Beijing runs the canal; it’s operated by the Panama Canal Authority. Trump’s rhetoric ties into his broader “America First” push and fears of China’s growing Latin American presence, like its Belt and Road Initiative, which Panama joined in 2017 but won’t renew. Critics see this as a distraction or leverage for tariff battles, but it’s escalating U.S.-Panama tensions.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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