Last Wednesday the President of the Republic of Panama, José Raúl Mulino, drew a line he specifies, replying to the imperialist aims of the new president American Donald Trump. The line coincides with the border Panama, which it shares with Costa Rica. It is the line - clarified Mulino - where the southern border arrives of the United States of America. A statement that, presumably, does not has been well received in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. A line that, however, Mulino indicated to underline that so far the sovereignty of Panama, thus rejecting the claim more Trump has claimed to regain possession of the Panama Canal ( of 23 January 2025).

If on the property of the Mulino canal it has been shown firm, granite, but he seems to have understood the concerns expressed by Trump on China's increased presence in the nation and, in particular, on the activities managed by Chinese companies in the ports of Balboa and San Cristóbal located at the two mouths of the Panamanian canal. That this alarm was already perceived in Panama seems to have been demonstrated by the initiative of the Contraloría General de la República de Panamá, which in mid-January announced a series measures to strengthen control over public resources and ensure transparency in the management of the State, measures that include carrying out thorough financial audits, including including one on Panama Ports Company (PPC), a company that - through Hutchison Port Holdings, which owns 90% of the capital - is part of the CK Hutchison group of Hong Kong which, in addition to and in the port sector, is active in the sectors of retail infrastructures and telecommunications.

Announcing the audit, the new Comptroller General, Anel Flores, specified that Panama Ports Company handles traffic containerized capacity equal to over eight million TEUs but generates little benefit for the Republic of Panama. On January 20, Flores met the administrator and the director of the Authority's ports Panama Maritime Maritime Authority.

Meanwhile, in last Wednesday's press conference, the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, Mao Ning, said stated that the Chinese administration is "in agreement with Panama's President José Raúl Mulino on the fact that Panama's sovereignty and independence are non-negotiable and that the Panama Canal is not under the direct control or of any power. China - he specified - does not Participate in channel management or operation. China it has never interfered. We respect Panama's sovereignty on the canal and recognize it as an international waterway permanently neutral'.