TOKYO -- U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino agreed to "safeguard" the Panama Canal in a call, as Washington steps up pressure to curb Chinese influence in the Central American country.
The call on Wednesday came as President Donald Trump's administration scrutinizes the operations of the crucial shipping route, which connects the Pacific Ocean with the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. Trump has claimed, without providing evidence, that the canal is under Chinese control and vowed in his Jan. 20 inaugural address to "take back" the strategic waterway.
