A group of families and children hailing from Uzbekistan, China, Afghanistan, Russia and more countries climbed down the stairs of an airplane in Costa Rica’s

Since taking office in January, US President Donald Trump has repeatedly accused the country of relinquishing control of the Panama Canal to China. Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino and Beijing officials deny the claims.

Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino has told his cabinet not to discuss ‘lies’ while Beijing hit back at Donald Trump’s takeover threats.

A Hong Kong-based company announced Tuesday that it would sell its stake in two ports on the Panama Canal to a U.S.-led consortium, apparently responding to threats from President

Panama maintains that it has full control over the canal and that the Hong Kong-based group's operation of the ports did not amount to Chinese control over the waterway, and that

Trump's comments to Congress came after a deal led by U.S. firm BlackRock was announced earlier Tuesday to buy most of the $22.8 billion ports business of Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison, which includes assets along the Panama Canal.

Panama maintains that it has full control over the canal and that the Hong Kong-based group’s operation of the ports did not amount to Chinese control.

The flash sale of a Hong Kong-owned global ports business highlights geopolitical volatility, executives and analysts said.

A Hong Kong company's decision to sell its global port stakes highlights the dilemma countries and firms will face in pursuit of Chinese and US investment, according to analysts. They added that as the United States under President Donald Trump sought to exclude China from agreements around the world,

The deal comes after U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened to take control of the Panama Canal and end what he sees as China’s influence over the waterway critical to global trade.