Hegseth's comments came during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new U.S.-funded dock at the Vasco Nuñez de Balboa Naval Base.

PANAMA CITY — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday the Panama Canal faces ongoing threats from China but that ...

China did not build this canal. China does not operate this canal and China will not weaponize this canal,” the Pentagon ...

The Chinese government is accusing the U.S. of “blackmail” after U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared Beijing a ...

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday the Panama Canal faces ongoing threats from China but that together the United States and Panama will keep it secure. Hegseth’s remarks triggered a ...

In carefully planned remarks, he referenced Panama ... for immigration missions since January. In turn, Hegseth repeatedly called the Panama Canal “key terrain” and affirmed America ...

We are working closely with our partners in Panama to secure the canal,” Hegseth said during his opening remarks at the 2025 Central American Security Conference in Panama City on Wednesday.

Hegseth’s remarks triggered a fiery response from ... the leadership and inalienable sovereignty of Panama over the Panama Canal and its adjacent areas.” That sentence appeared nowhere in ...

The Chinese Embassy in Panama released a fiery statement in response to Hegseth’s remarks. “Who represents the real threat to the Canal? People will make their own judgment,” the embassy ...

Hegseth during a Tuesday ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new U.S.-financed dock on the Panama Canal said the U.S. “will not allow communist China or any other country to threaten the canal’s ...