PANAMA CITY, Panama (AFP) — US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned during a visit to Panama on Tuesday that the United States will not allow China to jeopardise the operations of the country’s vital interoceanic canal.

“Today, the Panama Canal faces ongoing threats,” Hegseth said in a speech at a police station located at the entry to the shipping route.

“The United States of America will not allow communist China or any other country to threaten the canal’s operation or integrity,” he added.

Chinese and US firms are fighting for business on the waterway, which President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to seize over what he sees as China’s disproportionate influence in the shipping route.

The United States built the more than century-old canal and handed it over to Panama in 1999.

A Hong Kong company operates ports at either end of the canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific, through which five percent of all global shipping passes

“I want to be very clear. China did not build this canal. China does not operate this canal. And China will not weaponise this canal,” Hegseth said.