Panama has complained to the United Nations over US President Donald Trump's "worrying" threat to seize the Panama Canal, even as it launched an audit of the Hong Kong-linked operator of two ports on the interoceanic waterway.

Panama’s government and President José Raúl Mulino have repeatedly denied that there is any Chinese presence at the canal.

China has fired back at President Donald Trump, dismissing his claim that Beijing has seized control of the Panama Canal as baseless and provocative. Newsweek reached out by email to a Trump representative and to Hutchison Ports, a Hong Kong–based port operator that controls ports near the canal, for comment.

Panama Ports is a subsidiary of Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing’s CK Hutchison Holdings. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Beijing’s efforts to expand its reach in the country have hit several obstacles, in part because of American pressure.

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Panama has complained to the United Nations over US President Donald Trump's "worrying" threat to seize the Panama Canal, even as it launched

The Panamanian comptroller's office that oversees public entities announced “an exhaustive audit" at the Panama Ports Company.

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.

A U.S. Senator from Missouri has led several colleagues to introduce a resolution that would help American companies continue to ship through the Panama Canal without influence from the Chinese government.