Panama’s president insists the canal was not a gift from the US. China declared that it did not intervene.
Panama and China have pushed back against US President Donald Trump’s controversial claims regarding the Panama Canal.
The Panama Canal was “not a gift” from the United States, Panamanian President Jose Raul Malino said Wednesday in response to Trump’s threat to seize the strategic waterway. Meanwhile, Beijing rejected the US president’s claim that it effectively controls the canal.
“We absolutely reject everything Mr. Trump says,” Malino said during a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. First because it is false and second because the Panama Canal belongs to Panama and will remain Panama’s. The Panama Canal was not a concession or gift from the United States.
Trump has previously refused to rule out military action to take control of the canal, which the United States opened in 1914 to provide a trade route between its east and west coasts but ceded to Panama in 1999. had done
During his inauguration on Monday, the US president repeated his complaint that China was effectively “operating” the canal, which it “foolishly handed over to Panama”, thanks to a growing presence around the waterway. ,
We did not give to China, we gave to Panama. And we’re taking it back,” Trump announced.
‘never interfered’
Panama City filed a formal complaint with the United Nations on Tuesday, citing an article in the UN Charter that prohibits any member from “threatening or using force” against the territorial integrity or political independence of another. has gone
In a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, he asked the UN Security Council – over which the US has a veto – to take up the issue.
“China does not participate in the management and operation of the canal and has never interfered in the affairs of the canal,” a foreign ministry spokesman in Beijing said on Wednesday.
Malino has previously denied that any nation interferes with the Panama Canal, saying it operates on the principle of neutrality.
However, Panama has announced that it is now planning to audit the canal and the Panama Ports Company, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings that operates the ports of Balboa and Cristobal at both ends of the canal. is
As well as outlining his determination to seize the Panama Canal, Trump has sparked a mixture of concern and glee, with threats to use military or economic force to force Denmark to sell Greenland to the US. , and plans to rename the bay. “Gulf America” from Mexico.
