Republicans hoping to thwart Beijing’s influence in Latin America are urging the Panamanian government to cut ties with Chinese entities.

In recent weeks, when he was President-elect Donald Trump publicly said that Panama should return the Panama Canal to the United States, and he would not rule out using military force to reclaim it. At his presidential Inauguration on Monday Trump doubled down on saying that his new administration was going to take back the canal.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s insistence that he wants to have the Panama Canal back under U.S. control is feeding nationalist sentiment and worry in Panama, home to the critical trade route and a country familiar with U.

In his inaugural speech, President Donald Trump repeated his plan to regain control of the Panama Canal. Can he?

The Panama Canal connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean, providing a crucial shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans for maritime traffic. The United States handed Panamanian control of the canal in 1999 after overseeing its construction and operation for most of the 20th century.

Russia warned President Trump on Tuesday against seizing the Panama Canal, after he reiterated his intent to take control of the strategic waterway in his second inaugural address Monday.

The canal, which was once owned by the United States but was handed over to Panama decades ago, gives vessels a much shorter route between the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. While the two countries could end up resolving the issue,