by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Following a visit by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the weekend, Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino announced his intention to terminate major trade and development pact with China and stated he is interested in American investment in Panamanian infrastructure instead, the New York Post reports.
After meeting with Rubio during the Secretary of State’s first official trip abroad, Mulino told reporters that Panama will allow its 2017 trade and development pact involving China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” to expire, the Post reports.
Mulino’s announcement follows recent threats by US President Trump to seize control of the Panama Canal, claiming “American ships are being severely overcharged” and accusing China of “operating” the waterway, the Post notes.
“Secretary Rubio informed President Mulino and [Foreign] Minister [Javier] Martínez-Acha that President Trump has made a preliminary determination that the current position of influence and control of 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,” a State Department readout of the Rubio meeting says.
“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 readout states.
In any event, Mulino added that the Canal remains under sovereign Panamanian control, the Post reports.
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