By Frankie Mills Panama has strongly rejected US claims about securing free passage for government vessels through the Panama Canal, whilst announcing its withdrawal from China's Belt and Road Initiative amidst growing US pressure over alleged Chinese influence in the region.

Panama on Thursday rejected the United States’ claim of securing free passage for its government vessels through the Panama Canal, while bowing to US pressure to quit a key Chinese project. Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino told reporters the US assertion about the waterway was “simply and plainly intolerable,

Panama denied a claim made by the State Department on Wednesday that the Central American nation had agreed to no longer charge fees for US government ships to transit the country’s famous canal.