China may have investments in the operations of the Panama Canal but its soldiers are not operating it.

China's expanding footprint in Latin America is expected to be high on the agenda when US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visits Panama next week on his first overseas trip since taking office, according to observers.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is traveling to Panama late next week in his first official diplomatic trip late, amid heightened tensions over President Trump’s threats to retake the Panama

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to head to Panama soon for his first international trip as the nation’s top diplomat, Fox News has learned.

Marco Rubio will travel to Panama on his first trip abroad as secretary of State. The visit comes as Donald Trump looks to reclaim Panama's canal.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will likely travel to Central America in the first week of February, a source familiar with the planning said.

Panama has reportedly submitted a formal letter to the U.N. rejecting Trump's statement about reclaiming the canal. The country's President José Raúl Mulino said in the letter, dated January 20, that the canal "is and will continue to be Panama's," the New York Times reported.

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.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will head overseas late next week; he's also slated to visit Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.

Rubio will depart on his first foreign trip to visit countries in Central America that may be vital for carrying out the Trump administration's mass deportation plans.

They say they fought too hard to wrest it from the U.S. to now hand back the waterway, which is part of the nation’s identity.