A key focus of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to Central America this week — his first trip as America’s top diplomat — will be to counter China’s growing influence in the region, the State Department’s top spokesperson said this week,

US senators heard sharply different analyses about Chinese influence over the Panama Canal on Wednesday, with some experts suggesting solutions ranging from enhanced trade partnerships to military intervention to regain control of the strategic waterway.

On Christmas Day, Trump posted on social media that the "wonderful soldiers of China" were "lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama Canal" - a claim which was swiftly denied by officials in Panama City and Beijing.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio states Trump's interest in Greenland and the Panama Canal is driven by national security concerns regarding China.

Nonetheless, Trump’s bet is to not have to pursue military conquest in the Athenian way. He would rather have a complacent Panama, accepting all U.S. demands. As shown by the recent Colombia-U.S. clash over deportations, Trump’s approach seems to be “cooperate or else.”

Panama's President Jose Raul Mulino has ruled out negotiations with the US over ownership of the Panama Canal as he prepares to Marco Rubio.

Munilo told reporters that the David and Goliath fight that Trump has pushed is a non-starter. Panama fought for years to get access to the canal, he said. The territory is neutral, he added, and has remained so through international conflicts well before Trump’s presidency.

Mont., voiced his concerns over China’s increasing control of critical global infrastructure, and brought up the past warnings given by U.S. lawmakers.

Panama President José Raúl Mulino says there will be no negotiation with the United States over ownership of the Panama Canal. He also says that he hopes U.S.

When Marco Rubio arrives in Latin America this weekend on his first foreign trip as Donald Trump's secretary of state, he'll find a region reeling from the new administration's shock-and-awe approach to diplomacy.