Panama drops the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative, but also rejects free transit of US vessels through the Canal

Panama’s President, José Raúl Mulino, announced on Thursday that the country will withdraw from the Belt and Road Initiative, the ambitious Chinese project to fund infrastructure to improve connectivity and economic cooperation with other nations. At the same time US Secretary of State Marco Rubio clarified the claim that Panama “had decided to remove fees for US government vessels transiting the Panama Canal”