US defense secretary says China is a threat to Panama Canal, spurring a fiery response from Beijing

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: AP

Updated 10:34 PM EDT, April 8, 2025


PANAMA CITY (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday the Panama Canal faces ongoing threats from China but that together the United States and Panama will keep it secure. Hegseth’s remarks triggered a fiery response from the Chinese government, which said: “Who represents the real threat to the Canal? People will make their own judgement.”

Speaking at a ribbon cutting for a new U.S.-financed dock at the Vasco Nuñez de Balboa Naval Base after a meeting with Panama President José Raúl Mulino, Hegseth said the U.S. will not allow China or any other country to threaten the canal’s operation. “To this end, the United States and Panama have done more in recent weeks to strengthen our defense and security cooperation than we have in decades,” he said.

Hegseth alluded to ports at either end of the canal that are controlled by a Hong Kong consortium, which is in the process of selling its controlling stake to another consortium including BlackRock Inc.

“China-based companies continue to control critical infrastructure in the canal area,” Hegseth said. “That gives China the potential to conduct surveillance activities across Panama. This makes Panama and the United States less secure, less prosperous and less sovereign. And as President Donald Trump has pointed out, that situation is not acceptable.”

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/panama-us-mulino-hegseth-canal-33b7e18a1e879706712309118c3ad8c0

[twodogsbarking]

1. Will Trump go back to the old name for The Defense Department? The War Department.

[David__77]

2. That would, if nothing else, be a more accurate description.

[electricmonk]

4. I think Hegseth floated that idea a few weeks ago

[Bayard]

3. If trump's not careful,

China will fight on the other side of Russia/U.S. in WWIII.

[Lonestarblue]

5. And did anyone ask Hegseth for specific examples of China threatening the Canal's operation?

I get so tired of the media just accepting this administration’s lies without countering them. Trump claimed that Chinese military were all over the Zone, a former US enclave that hasn’t even existed since 1979. The Canal is operated by Panama, and there is no evidence of any Chinese military in Panama. These false claims are just Trump’s excuse for taking over the Canal and then charging ships exorbitant sums for transit. Of course, the company managing the Canal will be a subsidiary of the Trump Organization, probably one of his 500+ shell companies that he has managed to keep secret.