Panamanian President Jose Raul Molino denied claims by US President-elect Donald Trump that there are Chinese soldiers stationed in the Panama Canal.
In recent days, Trump has threatened to return the canal to US control, accusing Panama of “looting” the United States by charging high shipping rates.
In a message posted on his account on the Truth Social website on Wednesday, Trump wrote: “Merry Christmas to everyone, including the wonderful soldiers of China, who are lovingly running the Panama Canal, but illegally.”
Molyneux called the claim “nonsense” and said there was “no Chinese interference at all.”
“There is not a single Chinese soldier in the canal,” he told reporters in Panama City.
Molyneux also rejected the possibility of lowering tariffs for US ships or relinquishing control of the canal, a major shipping channel linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
He said, “The canal is Panamanian and belongs to the Panamanians. There is no possibility to open any kind of dialogue about this reality.”
After severing ties with Taiwan, Panama established diplomatic relations with China in 2017, and Molyneux said relations between the two countries are “respectful, well-managed… in terms of what is in the interest of both countries.”
His statements came a day after Trump announced that he would nominate a representative from Florida to be his ambassador to Panama.
Kevin Marino Cabrera, a Republican commissioner in Miami-Dade County, worked on Trump's 2020 campaign and this year was Florida's representative on the Republican National Committee.
Announcing his selection in a Christmas Day post on his social network Truth, Trump said Cabrera “will do a great job representing our nation's interests in Panama!”
The president-elect also repeated his claims that Panama is “robbing us.”
Sunday, Trump said to a crowd of conservative activists“The tariffs imposed by Panama are ridiculous and grossly unfair.”
Trump said that if shipping rates are not reduced, “we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us in full, quickly and without a doubt.”
Trump also said he didn't want the Panama Canal to fall into the wrong hands, and specifically pointed to China.
China is the second largest user of the Panama Canal after the United States, according to the data, and also has significant investments in the Central American country.
On Christmas Day, Trump sent dozens of messages defending his policies and nominations, and repeated his proposals to annex Greenland and Canada.
It is unclear how serious Trump is about regional moves, or how they will be achieved.
Up to 14,000 ships travel through the 51-mile (82-kilometer) canal each year, including container ships carrying cars, natural gas and other goods, and military ships.
The canal was built in the early 1900s. The United States maintained control of the canal zone until 1977, when treaties gradually ceded the land to Panama. After a period of joint control, Panama gained sole control in 1999.
The costs of crossing the canal increased over the past year due to the historic drought, according to shipping industry website Lloyd's List.
Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings operates two ports at the entrances to the canal.
