At a U.N. Security Council meeting chaired by Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino, the United States and China exchanged sharp accusations over influence in the Panama Canal.

Axar.az, citing AP, reports that acting U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea warned that Beijing’s “outsized influence” over key infrastructure and port operations poses a threat to global trade and security.

China’s U.N. Ambassador Fu Cong rejected the claims, accusing Washington of using the issue as a pretext to take control of the canal.

Mulino reaffirmed Panama’s sovereignty and the canal’s permanent neutrality under international treaty.