Panama has also agreed to end an infrastructure agreement with China and conduct a financial audit of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings, which controls ports on the canal’s opposite sides. Whether all of this will be enough to keep Trump happy and allow Panama not to worry about a full U.S. military takeover of the canal remains to be seen.

The Panama Canal has been a focal point of President Trump's broadside against China since his inaugural speech, and it's getting new focus as Beijing looks at alternatives to trading with the U.S. De

Panama promotes itself “as the bridge of the world, heart of the universe” but lately the narrow Central American Isthmus and its namesake canal that joins the Atlantic to the Pacific have become the setting for a bitter clash between the world’s two preeminent economic superpowers.

A subsidiary of a Hong Kong conglomerate, which is embroiled in U.S.-China tensions over its Panama Canal port assets has denied allegations that it had failed to pay about $1.2 billion to the Central

The controller general of Panama said CK Hutchison, a Hong Kong conglomerate, did not properly renew its license to operate two ports that are part of a $19 billion deal involving BlackRock.

Panama officials reported that the Hong Kong company CK Hutchinson, which operates two ports at the canal, owes $300 million in unpaid fees.