US President-elect Donald Trump has claimed that Chinese forces are stationed at the Panama Canal, but Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino has refuted this.
Trump has accused Panama of “ripping off” the US by imposing exorbitant shipping fees, and he has threatened to retake control of the canal.
On Wednesday, Trump wrote: “Merry Christmas to all, including to the wonderful soldiers of China, who are lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama Canal” in a post on his Truth Social account.
Mulino referred to the assertion as “nonsense” and asserted that “absolutely no Chinese interference” was there.
Getty Pictures Behind a microphone was a man with grey hair wearing a suit. Getty Pictures
According to José Raúl Mulino, his nation will not engage in talks on control of the Panama Canal.
