Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met with Panama President José Raúl Mulino Tuesday. The meeting came before Hegseth headed to a ribbon cutting for a new U.S.-financed dock on a former U.S. base.
Watch the ceremony in the video player above.
"The United States of America will not allow Communist China, or any other country to threaten the canal's operation or integrity," Hegseth said, speaking at the ribbon cutting at the Vasco Nuñez de Balboa Naval Base.
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To that end, Hegesth said, the U.S. and Panama have worked in recent weeks to strengthen their defense and security cooperation.
"Our relationship is growing in part to meet Communist China's rising challenge," Hegseth said. "China-based companies continue to control critical infrastructure in the canal area. That gives China the potential to conduct surveillance activities across Panama. This makes Panama and the United States less secure, less prosperous and less sovereign. And as President Donald Trump has pointed out, that situation is not acceptable."