The administrator of the Panama Canal has responded to criticisms from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, denying that there is any interference from China in the canal’s operations and saying giving special privileges to any nation would only cause problems.

Donald Trump has refused to rule out using military force to retake the Panama Canal that was returned by the US to Panama decades ago.

Hundreds of Panamanians marched on Thursday to mark the anniversary of a deadly uprising against U.S. control of the Panama Canal in 1964, with some protesters burning an effigy of President-elect Donald Trump who has threatened to retake the vital global waterway.

Treaties ratified by the Senate in 1978 established permanent neutrality, but some Republicans regret that decision.

A Panamanian national holiday remembering the killing of 21 protesters by police and U.S. troops in 1964 is taking on new resonance this year as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump threatens to take back control of the Panama Canal.

If commercial fees are typically low and America’s navy already has cheap and preferential access, why is Mr Trump threatening to take the canal? The simplest answer may be that the president-elect is expressing geopolitical machismo,