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US: We take over the Panama Canal/ Hegseth, visit to Panama: We remove Chinese influence
2025-04-08 23:49:00 / BOTA
The United States will take back the Panama Canal from Chinese influence, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a visit to the Central American country.
He stressed that China will not be allowed to turn the channel into a commercial weapon by using the commercial relationships of Chinese firms for espionage.
More than 40% of U.S. container traffic, worth about $270 billion a year, passes through the Panama Canal, accounting for more than two-thirds of the ships that pass through the world's second-busiest interoceanic waterway each day.
While Hegseth spoke about removing Chinese influence, Trump has not ruled out using military force, if necessary.
Hegseth is the first US defense secretary to visit the country in decades, and his trip follows reports that the Trump administration has sought options from the US military to provide access to the canal, which the United States built more than a century ago and handed over to Panama in 1999.
This is the second visit by a member of Trump's cabinet amid tensions between the two countries.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio traveled to Panama in early February to pressure the country to reduce China's influence in the Canal.
The government of Jose Raul Mulino has shown itself willing to cooperate with Trump and has accepted immigrants deported from the United States.
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