The U.S. Defense Secretary’s remarks at a ribbon cutting for a new American-financed dock triggered a fiery response f.

The United States and Panama will work together to take back the Panama Canal from “China’s influence,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday while standing in front of the vital shipping lane.

The last US military bases in Panama were vacated in 1999 as a condition of the 1977 Torrijos-Carter treaties to hand the canal to Panamanian ownership. Under the canal’s neutrality treaty, no foreign ...

The Panama Canal cannot be controlled by China ... which was followed by Panama’s exit from China’s Belt and Road initiative, drawing criticism from Beijing.

PANAMA CITY — 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 ...