“The U.S. senior official maliciously attacked China, and vilified and sabotaged China-Panama cooperation, which once again lays bare America’s bullying and hegemonic nature [sic]. China firmly opposes it,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters during a Wednesday press conference.
Continuing, the spokesman said:
It is so clear for all to see who wants to control the Panama Canal. The U.S. should take a hard look in the mirror to find out who is threatening other countries’ sovereignty, security and development. China calls on the U.S. to stop spreading rumors and making trouble, and stop linking China to the Panama Canal issue with ill intention to find an excuse for America’s attempt to control the canal [sic].
Meanwhile, let me stress that compromise and concession does not protect sovereignty or win respect, but will only embolden the bully [sic].
Sec. Hegseth traveled to Panama on Monday for a two-day diplomatic tour on the occasion of the 2025 Central American Security Conference, meeting with President José Raúl Mulino and other government officials. He also visited American troops stationed there.
During his time at the Vasco Nuñez de Balboa Naval Base, located near the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal, Hegseth said that the security of the canal remains “a key national interest” of both Panama and the U.S. He added that Washington “will not allow Communist China or any other country to threaten the canal’s operation or integrity.”
“To this end, the United States and Panama have done more in recent weeks to strengthen our defense and security cooperation than we have in decades. That includes our meeting today and announcements to come,” Hegseth noted.
“As we speak, U.S. based military units are involved in joint exercises, planning and other forms of cooperation with our Panamanian partners on both the Atlantic and Pacific sides of the canal. And together, we will take bold first steps to revive our defense and security ties between our countries,” he continued.
The defense secretary pointed out that Chinese companies continue to control critical influence operations in the canal area, which gives Beijing the potential to “conduct surveillance activities across Panama.”
“This makes Panama and the United States less secure, less prosperous and less sovereign. And as President Donald Trump has pointed out, that situation is not acceptable,” he asserted.
Hegseth thanked Panama President Mulino, Panama Security Minister Frank Abrego, and the Panama Canal Authority for responding to the threats posed by China. He additionally expressed gratitude for Mulino’s decision to withdraw from Beijing’s predatory Belt and Road (BRI) debt trap initiative.
“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,” the defense secretary stressed.
Beijing refuted what it called Hegseth’s “irresponsible and unsubstantiated” remarks in a statement published through its embassy in Panama on Tuesday. While insisting that the defense secretary’s presence in Panama was an attack on China, the communist regime once again denied having had any participation or influence in the Panama Canal. The press release further claimed that Beijing “has always respected” Panama’s sovereignty over the trade route and recognizes it as a “permanently neutral international transit waterway.”
The statement read in part:
China has made its position on this matter very clear in the official documents issued jointly by China and Panama in the framework of the reciprocal visits of the Presidents of both countries. Although the U.S. repeats ad nauseam about ‘Chinese interference and influence’ over the Canal, it is worth noting that in history the only time the Canal was cut off was precisely because of the U.S. invasion in 1989 [sic].
Who is defending the neutrality and prosperity of the Canal, who is endlessly proclaiming “’take back the Canal”? and who represents the real threat to the Canal? People will make their own judgment [sic].
The Chinese embassy acknowledged that cooperation between Beijing and Panama City in areas such as trade and investment has been “developing at an accelerated rate” in recent years, referring to Panama joining the BRI program 2017.
“Ignoring the facts, the U.S. has orchestrated a sensationalist campaign of the ‘Chinese threat theory’ in an attempt to sabotage Sino-Panamanian cooperation. All of this is purely for US geopolitical purposes, exposing its hegemonic pretension [sic],” the embassy claimed. “Who is brazenly practicing blackmail and plunder? That is more than clear before everyone’s eyes.”
The press release concluded by asserting that U.S.-Panama relations should not be exclusive and that developing relations with China is a sovereign decision of Panama in which Washington “has no right to intervene.”
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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