BEIJING (Sputnik) – China firmly opposes US attempts to undermine its relations with Panama through pressure and threats, Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Zhao Zhiyuan said at a meeting with Panamanian Ambassador to China Miguel Lecaro.
On Thursday, Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino said that the Central American nation had formally notified China about its decision to withdraw from China’s Belt and Road Initiative. He denied that the withdrawal was related to the recent visit to Panama of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
China lodged solemn representations with Panama over its plan to terminate the memorandum of understanding on the Belt and Road Initiative, Zhao said. He emphasized that China «firmly opposes the United States wantonly undermining China-Panama relations and smearing and sabotaging Belt and Road cooperation through the means of pressuring and threatening.»
