Panama has formally pulled out of China’s massive Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure programme, following pressure from the United States to reduce Beijing’s influence on the Panama Canal, President José Raúl Mulino said on Thursday.
Mulino told reporters that the Panamanian embassy in Beijing had given China the required 90-day notice of its decision not to renew its involvement in the plan.
Mulino also said on Thursday the US was spreading “lies and falsehoods” after the State Department claimed US government vessels would be able to pass through the Panama Canal without paying.
The comments were likely to exacerbate tensions between the two countries after the US had cited progress on military cooperation and confronting alleged Chinese influence over the canal.
Panama has been in the White House’s crosshairs since Trump claimed the country’s vital waterway had effectively been taken over by China and vowed the US was “taking it back”.
Speaking to journalists, Mulino expressed his “absolute rejection” that the two countries’ relations be “based on lies and falsehoods”.
