The US military and Panamanian police joined hands to conduct a series of new exercises aimed at guarding the Panama Canal, amid tensions with China.

To kick off the drills, three US Army helicopters arrived in Panama on Sunday — two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and a CH-47 Chinook — landing at the Panama-Pacific Airport, formerly the US Howard base.

Michael Palacios, subcommissioner of Panama’s National Aeronaval Service — known as SENAN — said the exercises would prepare Panama’s forces, as well as countries in the region, against any threats to the security and defense of the canal.

US soldiers conducted similar exercises in Panama a month ago, under a bilateral agreement that allows Washington to use Panamanian air and naval bases for training without establishing its own bases.

The agreement sparked protests in the Central American country and came amid pressure from US President Donald Trump, who threatened to reclaim the canal.

He has repeatedly claimed that China has too much influence over the canal, which handles about 40 percent of US container traffic and five percent of world trade.

In April, Trump called for the free transit of American commercial and military ships through the inter-oceanic route, claiming the canal would “not exist” without the US.

But Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino said the toll fees are regulated by the Panama Canal Authority, an autonomous governing body overseeing the trade route.

American presence in Panama remains a sensitive issue, as it evokes a time when Washington had an enclave of military bases in the country before the canal was handed over to Panamanians on the last day of 1999.

SENAN officials said the US maneuvers will last until Friday and will respect “national sovereignty.”

Palacios said the exercise has been held for 23 years.

Panama Runs Away From US-China Dispute

Earlier, Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino asked Washington to refrain from dragging the Central American country into its “geopolitical conflict” with China.

The appeal came after the US embassy in Panama City announced a project to replace communications tower equipment made by the Chinese company Huawei with “secure US technology.”

An embassy statement said that under President Donald Trump’s leadership, “the United States is working to counter China’s malign influence in our hemisphere, making the Americas stronger and safer.”

Mulino warned the diplomatic mission against trying “to draw Panama into a geopolitical conflict between China and the United States.”

“Let them fight their problem in Washington or Beijing, but not in Panama’s backyard,” the right-wing leader said at his weekly news conference.

Tensions have flared between Panama and the United States in recent months, notably over Trump’s threats to “take back” the Panama Canal, which he alleges has come under Chinese influence.

Panamanian Security Minister Frank Abrego said that the telecommunications project at the center of the latest spat had been in development for almost a decade.

Panama installed several communication towers in 2017 in the eastern province of Darien using its own funds.

The United States later offered to fund the $8 million project but asked to modify it because the equipment did not meet its military security requirements, Abrego said.