Panama's president has denied Mr Trump's claims that China is interfering in the canal
Earlier, after Trump made a threat to reclaim the Panama Canal and alleged that China had interfered in the Panama Canal, Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino rebuked Trump's remarks at a press conference, and declared that the country's sovereignty and independence should not be violated.
Mulino told a news conference: "The toll is not arbitrarily set by the president of Panama and the canal manager. The rates are set in an open and open process involving customers and other participants."
"If rates are not reduced, we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, quickly and without question," Trump said in a public speech.
The Panama Canal opened in 1914 and was built by the United States. The 51-mile waterway connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It was administered by the United States until 1999, when full control of the waterway was handed over to Panama under a treaty signed by President Jimmy Carter in 1977.
The Panama Canal carries about 3% of the world's maritime traffic, connecting 180 sea lanes to 1,920 ports in 170 countries around the world. Nearly 9,000 Panamanians work on the Panama Canal.
According to the Panama Canal Authority, net revenue on the Panama Canal rose about 9.5 percent to $3.45 billion in the fiscal year that ended in September, with 9,944 ships passing through the canal throughout the year.
Trump's proposal to recover the Panama Canal at this time is nothing more than a repeat of the old tactics, looking at the income of Panama's harvest, transferring the contradictions and pressure in the United States, and plundering other countries' resources while creating momentum for his election in January.
In the fiscal year that ended in September, ships to and from the United States accounted for about 75 percent of Panama Canal traffic, followed by Chinese ships (22 percent), Japanese ships (14 percent) and South Korean ships (9 percent), according to the Panama Canal Authority.
However, Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino was very strong and did not give Trump any face.
Mulino told a news conference: "The toll is not arbitrarily set by the president of Panama and the canal manager. The rates are set in an open and open process involving customers and other participants."
"If rates are not reduced, we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, quickly and without question," Trump said in a public speech.
The Panama Canal opened in 1914 and was built by the United States. The 51-mile waterway connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It was administered by the United States until 1999, when full control of the waterway was handed over to Panama under a treaty signed by President Jimmy Carter in 1977.
The Panama Canal carries about 3% of the world's maritime traffic, connecting 180 sea lanes to 1,920 ports in 170 countries around the world. Nearly 9,000 Panamanians work on the Panama Canal.
According to the Panama Canal Authority, net revenue on the Panama Canal rose about 9.5 percent to $3.45 billion in the fiscal year that ended in September, with 9,944 ships passing through the canal throughout the year.
Trump's proposal to recover the Panama Canal at this time is nothing more than a repeat of the old tactics, looking at the income of Panama's harvest, transferring the contradictions and pressure in the United States, and plundering other countries' resources while creating momentum for his election in January.
In the fiscal year that ended in September, ships to and from the United States accounted for about 75 percent of Panama Canal traffic, followed by Chinese ships (22 percent), Japanese ships (14 percent) and South Korean ships (9 percent), according to the Panama Canal Authority.
However, Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino was very strong and did not give Trump any face.
