US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US will take action if Panama does not make immediate changes to the Panama Canal. He expressed the opinion that the agreement for the transfer of the canal from the US to Panama has been violated, Agence France-Presse reported, quoted by BTA.
Rubio said that President Donald Trump has determined that Chinese influence threatens the Panama Canal and immediate action is needed to change this, Reuters added.
Rubio made this warning during a meeting with Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino. Rubio made it clear to him that this status quo is unacceptable and the lack of immediate changes will force the United States to take the necessary measures to protect its rights under the treaty, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said, AFP reported.
For his part, Mulino said he saw no real threat to the treaty under which the United States ceded the canal to Panama.
"I don't have the impression that there is a real threat at this time to this treaty and its validity", he said, adding that there was no impression that there was a danger of resorting to force to take control of the canal, AFP reported.
Mulino stressed that Panama's sovereign right over the Panama Canal is not up for debate, Reuters added.
The Panamanian government has categorically denied having ceded canal operations to China and insists that it manages the canal fairly with respect to all cargo and ships.
Although the canal itself is operated by Panama, the two ports on either side of it are operated by a Hong Kong-registered company called “Hutchinson“. Other ports in the neighborhood are run by private companies from the United States, Singapore and Taiwan, Reuters recalls.
The president of Panama has proposed holding technical-level discussions with the United States to address his country's concerns about Trump's influence over the Panama Canal, Agence France-Presse adds.
Marco Rubio began his tour of five Central American countries from Panama, the Associated Press recalls.
North Korea criticized US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for his words that the Asian country threatens peace, Agence France-Presse reported, quoted by BTA.
Pyongyang assured that “will never tolerate any US provocation“.
This is the first criticism North Korea has leveled at President Donald Trump's administration.
“We will never tolerate any US provocation and will take strong countermeasures to respond as usual“, a spokesman for the North Korean Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying by the state news agency KCNA.
In a recent interview, Marco Rubio described North Korea and Iran as countries threatening peace that “we must deal with“ when making decisions on international relations.
The US Secretary of State “was talking nonsense when he described the DPRK as a country threatening peace“, the spokesman said, condemning “his hostile remarks aimed at tarnish the image of a sovereign state“.
Last week, despite calls from US President Donald Trump, North Korea announced that its nuclear program would continue “indefinitely“.