U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio informed Panamanian President José Raul Mulino and Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha Vásquez that what he referred to as China’s “control” over the Panama Canal could mean that the U.S. must “take necessary measures to protect its rights under the Treaty.”
Rubio, who is in Panama as part of his first trip abroad as the U.S. top diplomat, informed officials “that President Trump has made a preliminary determination that the current position of influence and control by the Chinese Communist Party over the Panama Canal area is a threat to the canal and represents a violation of the Treaty concerning the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama Canal,” said State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce.
Bruce also stated that “this status quo is unacceptable” and that “in the absence of immediate changes,” the U.S. will “have to take the necessary measures to protect its rights under the Treaty.”
