PANAMA CITY, Dec 27, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino
on Thursday ruled out negotiations with US President-elect Donald Trump over
control of the Panama Canal, denying that China was interfering in its
operation.

Mulino also rejected the possibility of reducing tolls for US vessels in
response to Trump's threat to demand control of the vital waterway connecting
the Atlantic and Pacific oceans be returned to Washington.

"There's nothing to talk about," Mulino told a press conference.

"The canal is Panamanian and belongs to Panamanians. There's no possibility
of opening any kind of conversation around this reality, which has cost the
country blood, sweat and tears," he added.

The canal, inaugurated in 1914, was built by the United States but handed to
Panama on December 31, 1999, under treaties signed some two decades earlier
by then-US president Jimmy Carter and Panamanian nationalist leader Omar
Torrijos.

Trump on Saturday slammed what he called "ridiculous" fees for US ships
passing through the canal and hinted at China's growing influence.

"It was solely for Panama to manage, not China, or anyone else," Trump said
in a post on his Truth Social platform. "We would and will NEVER let it fall
into the wrong hands!"

If Panama could not ensure "the secure, efficient and reliable operation" of
the channel, "then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in
full, and without question," he said.

- 'No Chinese interference' -

An estimated five percent of global maritime traffic passes through the
Panama Canal, which allows ships traveling between Asia and the US East Coast
to avoid the long, hazardous route around the southern tip of South America.

The United States is its main user, accounting for 74 percent of cargo,
followed by China with 21 percent.

Mulino said the canal's usage fees were "not set at the whim of the president
or the administrator" of the interoceanic waterway, but under a long-
established "public and open process."

"There is absolutely no Chinese interference or participation in anything to
do with the Panama Canal," Mulino said.

On Wednesday, Trump wrote on Truth Social alleged, without evidence, that
Chinese soldiers were "lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama Canal."

Mulino denied that allegation, too.

"There are no Chinese soldiers in the canal, for the love of God," he added.

Panama established diplomatic relations with China in 2017, after breaking
off ties with Taiwan -- a decision criticized by Trump's first
administration.

On Tuesday, dozens of demonstrators gathered outside the US embassy in Panama
City chanting "Trump, animal, leave the canal alone" and burning an image of
the incoming US president.