Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino on Sunday that the Central American ally must immediately reduce Chinese influence over the Panama Canal area or face potential retaliation from the Trump administration. Mulino said later that "there is no real threat of retaking the canal or the use of force," the AP reports. Rubio, on his first foreign trip as America's top diplomat, held face-to-face talks in Panama City with Mulino, who has resisted pressure from President Trump over Panama's management of the waterway that is vital to global trade.
Speaking on behalf of Trump, who has demanded that the canal be returned to US control, Rubio told Mulino that Trump had made a preliminary determination that China's presence in the canal area violates a treaty that led to the US turning the waterway over to Panama in 1999. That treaty calls for the permanent neutrality of the American-built canal. "Secretary Rubio made clear that this status quo is unacceptable and that absent immediate changes, it would require the United States to take measures necessary to protect its rights under the treaty," the State Department said in a summary of the meeting.
"I don't feel like there's a real threat against the treaty and its validity," Mulino said. He called it a "good-faith meeting" that was respectful and positive and held "to clear up doubts." Mulino acknowledged that China's role in the ports at either end of the canal has raised concerns with Trump. But the president said that the consortium controlling them was being audited and that the canal authority would give Rubio a more detailed explanation. Mulino did say Panama would not be renewing its agreement with China's Belt and Road Initiative when it expires, per the AP.
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