US Defense Secretary: Washington won’t allow China or any other country to control the Panama Canal
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday in Panama that the Trump administration won’t allow China to “jeopardize” the canal’s operation.
“Today, the Panama Canal faces new threats… The United States won’t allow communist China or any other country to jeopardize the operation or safety of the canal,” Hegseth said in a speech at a police station located at one of the canal’s entrances.
Chinese and American companies are competing for business in the waterway, which President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to seize due to what he sees as China’s disproportionate influence.
The United States built the canal more than a century ago, then handed it over to Panama in 1999.
A Hong Kong-registered company operates ports at both ends of the canal, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and through which five percent of the world’s total shipping traffic passes.
“I want to be absolutely clear… China didn’t build this canal… China doesn’t operate this canal, and it won’t use this canal as a weapon,” Hegseth added.
