Panama Canal administrator pushes back against Trump's assertions of Chinese meddling

Source: AP

Updated 10:53 PM EST, January 10, 2025


PANAMA CITY (AP) — The administrator of the Panama Canal said Friday that the vital waterway will remain in Panamanian hands and open to commerce from all countries, rejecting claims by President-elect Donald Trump that the United States should take it over.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Ricaurte Vásquez denied Trump’s claims that China was controlling the canal’s operations, and said making exceptions to current rules concerning its operation would lead to “chaos.” He said Chinese companies operating in the ports on either end of the canal were part of a Hong Kong consortium that won a bidding process in 1997. He added that U.S. and Taiwanese companies are operating other ports along the canal as well.

Trump has gone so far as to suggest the U.S. should take back control of the canal and he would not rule out using military might to do so. “It might be that you’ll have to do something,” Trump said Tuesday. “The Panama Canal is vital to our country.”

Trump has characterized the fees for transiting the canal that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans as “ridiculous.” Panama President José Raúl Mulino has said unequivocally that the canal will remain in Panamanian hands.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/panama-canal-us-trump-china-2b335de48aa227389822051f7acdf09f