US Prez’s interest in Greenland, Panama Canal driven by China concerns: Rubio

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that President Donald Trump’s desire to acquire Greenland and retake control of the Panama Canal was driven by legitimate national security interests, stemming from growing concerns about Chinese activity and influence in the Arctic and Latin America.

Ahead of a trip to Central America that will start in Panama this weekend, Rubio said he could not predict if Trump would succeed in buying Greenland from Denmark or restoring American authority over the Panama Canal, while he was in office, but the attention that Trump would give to both would have an impact.

“What I think you can rest assured of is that four years from now, our interest in the Arctic will be more secure; our interest in the Panama Canal will be more secure,” said Rubio, who will arrive in Panama on Saturday on his first official foreign trip as America’s top diplomat. “They’re all over Panama,” Rubio said of Chinese firms that many experts believe are beholden to the government in Beijing and would carry out orders to cut off or limit traffic to the canal.