As for the Panama Canal, Mulino denied U.S. vessels are being overcharged to use the waterway and emphasized that China plays no role in the canal. A Hong Kong-based firm manages two ports at the Panama Canal’s entrances, but Panama owns and operates the entire canal.

no Chinese nor any other world power at the canal.” This week, Trump wished a Merry Christmas to the "wonderful soldiers of China, who are lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama Canal." It was the latest in a long series of criticisms made by ...