Panama City, Panama - China does not control the Panama Canal, nor does it charge more tolls to the United States, says its former administrator, Jorge Quijano, in an interview with EFE in which he deconstructs the discourse used by US President Donald Trump to argue his intention to "regain" the operation of the route between the Atlantic and the Pacific.

China has fired back at President Donald Trump, dismissing his claim that Beijing has seized control of the Panama Canal as baseless and provocative. Newsweek reached out by email to a Trump representative and to Hutchison Ports, a Hong Kong–based port operator that controls ports near the canal, for comment.