Source: International Business Times
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth delivers a speech during the Central American Security Conference (CENTSEC25), organized by Panama and the US Southern Command, in Panama City on April 9, 2025 AFP US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday during a visit to Panama that the United States does not seek war with China, but will counter what he called the threats it poses in the Americas. Hegseth made the remarks in a speech to a regional security conference a day after visiting the US-built Panama Canal, which President Donald Trump has threatened to seize because of what he calls China's excessive influence over the waterway. The United States says it is a threat to its national security and the region as a whole for a Hong Kong company to operate ports at either end of the canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific, and through which five percent of all global shipping passes.
