El PAIS -- Panama will not renew the memorandum of understanding it signed with China in 2017 within the framework of the Silk Road, a strategic plan with geopolitical and economic ramifications to which Beijing assigns vital importance for its economy. 

The decision was announced this Sunday by the Government of José Raúl Mulino after a meeting in Panama City with the Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubio. Donald Trump's head of diplomacy had warned Mulino that Chinese influence in the Panama Canal was "unacceptable" to Washington. 

And he went further: if the Central American country does not make "immediate changes" in this regard, "the United States will take the necessary measures to protect its rights," said the spokesperson for the State Department, Tammy Bruce. In a press conference after the meeting, Mulino said that "there is no real threat [on the part of the United States] to recover the canal or the use of force." The agreement between Panama and China must be renewed in 2026.