Panama complains to UN over Trump canal threat

In a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the government in Panama City referred to an article of the U.N. Charter precluding any member from "the threat or use of force" against the territorial integrity or political independence of another.

The missive, distributed to reporters on Jan. 22, urges Guterres to refer the matter to the U.N. Security Council, without asking for a meeting to be convened.

Trump, in his inaugural address on Jan. 20, repeated his complaint that China was effectively "operating" the Panama Canal through its growing presence around the waterway, which the United States handed over at the end of 1999.

"We didn't give it to China, we gave it to Panama. And we're taking it back," Trump said.

Panama's President Jose Raul Mulino hit back that the canal was not a gift from the United States during a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

"We reject in its entirety everything that Mr. Trump has said. First because it is false and second because the Panama Canal belongs to Panama and will continue to belong to Panama," Mulino said on Wednesday.

The president has previously denied that any other nation was interfering in the canal, which he said was operated on a principle of neutrality.

Asked on Wednesday about the spat, Beijing denied it had ever "interfered" in the canal.

"China has always respected Panama's sovereignty over the canal and recognized the canal as a permanent neutral international waterway," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.

The Panamanian comptroller's office that oversees public entities announced "an exhaustive audit" would be launched "aimed at ensuring the efficient and transparent use of public resources" at the Panama Ports Company.