Hong Kong leader says concerns over Panama ports deal warrant ‘attention’


By AFP
March 18, 2025


The business empire of Hong Kong's richest man, Li Ka-shing, sold its Panama Canal port operations to a US-led consortium following pressure from US President Donald Trump - Copyright AFP/File MARTIN BERNETTI

Hong Kong leader John Lee on Tuesday said criticism of city conglomerate CK Hutchison’s sale of its Panama Canal ports deserved “serious attention”, after Beijing authorities repeatedly slammed the deal.

The business empire of Hong Kong’s richest man, Li Ka-shing, sold most of its port operations — including those in the canal — to a US-led consortium this month following pressure from US President Donald Trump.

But Beijing has upped pressure on the firm since, with two Chinese government offices managing Hong Kong affairs republishing newspaper articles last week blasting the transaction and questioning whether CK Hutchison sided with the United States over China.

“There have been extensive discussions in society about the issue and this reflects society’s concern over the matter,” Lee, the chief executive of the largely autonomous Chinese city, told reporters.

“These concerns deserve serious attention.”

Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources, that senior Chinese leaders have ordered several government agencies — including the State Administration for Market Regulation — to scrutinise the deal.

This examination by Beijing does not necessarily result in follow-up action, the sources told Bloomberg, asking not to be identified to discuss private deliberations.

Shares of CK Hutchison in Hong Kong fell nearly four percent on Tuesday morning.

For months, Trump has complained that China controls shipping in the Panama Canal, which was built by the United States more than a century ago to link the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

The US president repeatedly threatened to “take back” the canal, which was handed over to Panama in 1999.


– ‘Bullying tactics’ –

Before the sale, CK Hutchison’s subsidiary in Panama had managed two of the five ports at the canal — one on the Cristobal, Atlantic, side and the other on the Balboa, Pacific, side — via a government concession since 1997.

CK Hutchison, one of Hong Kong’s largest conglomerates, said the deal was unrelated to recent political news.

Lee on Tuesday urged foreign governments to “provide a fair and just environment” for Hong Kong enterprises, without calling out the United States by name.

“We oppose the abusive use of coercion, of bullying tactics in international economic and trade relations,” he said.

Lee said any transaction must comply with legal and regulatory requirements, adding that Hong Kong would “handle it in accordance with the law and regulations”.

The Hong Kong and Macao Work Office — an office in Beijing overseeing Hong Kong affairs — republished a newspaper article last Thursday asking CK Hutchison “which side it stands on”.

Two days later, it ran another piece critical of the deal, which was later republished by the Liaison Office, the top Beijing authority based in Hong Kong.

AFP has contacted the conglomerate for comment.

Outspoken Hong Kong ex-leader CY Leung added to the chorus of criticism, saying “some Hong Kong businesspeople mistakenly believe that ‘businesspeople have no homeland'”.

“American businesspeople can and will do only things aligned with US interests… the same applies to China,” Leung wrote on Facebook on Monday.

Hong Kong’s Hutchison under fire again for Panama ports deal


By AFP
March 15, 2025


View of the Port of Balboa, which was managed by CK Hutchison Holdings - Copyright PERUVIAN NAVY/AFP Handout

Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison is under renewed pressure from Beijing after selling its Panama Canal ports, with Chinese authorities publishing newspaper criticism of the deal for the second time in three days.

Last week the business empire of Hong Kong’s richest man, Li Ka-shing, sold most of its ports operations — including those in the canal — to a US-led consortium following pressure from US President Donald Trump.

In a statement, CK Hutchison Holdings said it would offload a 90-percent stake in the Panama Ports Company and sell a slew of other non-Chinese ports to a group led by giant asset manager BlackRock for $19 billion in cash.

On Saturday, the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office — the Beijing-based authority in charge of Hong Kong affairs — reposted a newspaper editorial titled “Great entrepreneurs have always been outstanding patriots”.

The article, originally published by the Beijing-backed newspaper Ta Kung Pao in Hong Kong, said many Chinese people have questioned “how so many important ports can be so easily handed over to ill-meaning American forces”.

“If (entrepreneurs) fail to see the true nature of American politicians… and choose to dance with them, perhaps they can do a mega-deal and get rich for a while, but in the end they have no future and will be scorned by history,” the piece read.

The same article was also republished in full on Saturday by the Liaison Office, the top Beijing authority based in Hong Kong.



– ‘Choose a side’ –



CK Hutchison stocks in Hong Kong plunged more than six percent on Friday after Chinese authorities republished an op-ed telling the company to choose “which side it stands on”.

That older article appeared in the commentary section of Thursday’s Ta Kung Pao, which is owned by a subsidiary of the Liaison Office.

In contrast, Saturday’s editorial was excerpted on the front page and its full text ran on page three.

The paper’s website published three more opinion pieces by outside contributors on Sunday morning, all critical of the deal.

CK Hutchison has not responded to AFP’s request for comment.

For months, Trump has complained that China controls the Panama Canal and that American vessels were overcharged for using it, even refusing to rule out a military invasion of Panama to “take back” the vital waterway.

Before the sale, CK Hutchison’s subsidiary in Panama had managed two of the five ports at the canal — one at Cristobal and the other at Balboa — via a government concession since 1997.

The ports transaction was “purely commercial… and wholly unrelated to recent political news”, co-managing director Frank Sixt said when the deal was announced.

China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian declined to comment on the deal earlier this month.

The Hong Kong government has said it “never interfered in the commercial operation of Hong Kong companies”.

CK Hutchison Holdings is one of Hong Kong’s largest conglomerates, spanning finance, retail, infrastructure, telecoms and logistics.

Hong Kong’s embattled CK Hutchison says profits down in 2024


By AFP
March 20, 2025


CK Hutchison this month offloaded its global ports business outside China -- including operations in the Panama canal -- to a group led by giant asset manager BlackRock for $19 billion in cash - Copyright AFP/File MARTIN BERNETTI

Holmes CHAN

Embattled Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings, caught in a US-China spat over control of the Panama Canal, said on Thursday that profits fell 27 percent in 2024.

CK Hutchison this month offloaded its global ports business outside China — including operations in the canal — to a group led by giant asset manager BlackRock for $19 billion in cash.

The parties expect to sign a “definitive agreement” by April 2 concerning the Panama Ports Company, which has operated two of the five ports at the canal since 1997 via a government concession.

The deal came after weeks of pressure from US President Donald Trump, who refused to rule out a military invasion of Panama to “take back” the vital waterway from alleged Chinese control.

Thursday’s results announcement made no mention of the BlackRock deal.

“On the whole, the Group’s underlying operating results were relatively stable” last year despite a one-time issue related to its Vietnam telecommunications business, chairman Victor Li, son of billionaire founder Li Ka-shing, said in a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

But CK Hutchison said its “ports and related services” division saw an 11 percent jump in revenue to $5.8 billion.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation soared 19 percent year-on-year to $2.1 billion, the firm said.

“There may be headwinds with supply chain disruptions anticipated in the early part of the year due to shipping lines transitioning into their new alliances, as well as ongoing geopolitical risk impacting global trade,” Li said as part of the ports division’s 2025 outlook.

– Beijing scrutiny –



Shares in CK Hutchison jumped more than 20 percent in Hong Kong after the ports deal was first announced on March 4.

But Beijing made its displeasure known last week via two government offices overseeing Hong Kong affairs, which republished newspaper articles criticising the deal as “spineless” and “betraying and selling out all Chinese people”.

Hong Kong leader John Lee also said on Tuesday that concerns about the sale “deserve serious attention”, adding that the city will “handle it in accordance with the law and regulations”.

CK Hutchison cancelled its post-earnings press conference on Thursday and has not responded to multiple AFP enquiries.

Bloomberg News has reported citing unnamed sources that senior Chinese leaders have ordered government agencies including the State Administration for Market Regulation to scrutinise the deal.

The conglomerate is registered in the Cayman Islands and the assets being sold are all outside China.

Following years of diversification, operations in mainland China and Hong Kong made up just 12 percent of CK Hutchison revenue last year, according to Thursday’s results.

The conglomerate had previously claimed to have “the world’s leading port network”, which spans 53 ports in 24 countries.

But in terms of revenue, CK Hutchison’s ports division pales in comparison to its worldwide business interests in finance, retail, infrastructure and telecoms.

In Hong Kong, CK Hutchison is known for its founder, Li Ka-shing, the city’s wealthiest man and nicknamed “Superman” for his business savvy.

The 96-year-old enjoyed close ties with three generations of top Chinese leaders, but the bonhomie faded after Xi Jinping took power.

Over the past decade, Chinese state media has criticised Li for his apparent decision to divest from some Chinese markets and for supposedly showing sympathy to Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters in 2019.

CK Hutchison: the Hong Kong firm behind Panama port operators


By AFP
February 3, 2025


A ship is loaded with containers at Balboa, operated by Hutchison Ports, in Panama City - Copyright AFP/File Luis ACOSTA
Holmes CHAN

A sprawling business empire built by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing is caught in the crossfire as the extent of Chinese influence over the Panama Canal is debated.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week it was “unacceptable” for Hong Kong-based companies to control the canal’s entry and exit points, arguing they could shut down transit if Beijing ordered them to.

Panama has now announced an audit into the subsidiary of Li’s CK Hutchison Holdings, which manages two of the canal’s five ports.

Here’s what you need to know about the Panama port operator and its ties to China:

– Who runs the ports? –

Hutchison Ports PPC — which also uses the name Panama Ports Company SA — has managed the port of Cristobal on the canal’s Atlantic side and Balboa on the Pacific side since 1997 via a concession from the Panama government.

That arrangement was automatically renewed in 2021.

Hutchison Ports said last month that it is the “only port operator in the country where the state is a shareholder”, and that it had paid the Panama government $59 million in the past three years.

It said its workforce is almost entirely Panamanian.

Parent company CK Hutchison Holdings is one of Hong Kong’s largest conglomerates, spanning finance, retail, infrastructure, telecoms and logistics.

The company has a hand in running 53 ports in 24 nations, including in Britain, Spain and Australia.

– Hong Kong’s ‘Superman’ –

CK Hutchison was built from nothing by Li — now Hong Kong’s richest man, nicknamed “Superman” for his business acumen.

His company Cheung Kong — named after China’s Yangtze River — thrived in Hong Kong’s property market during the British colonial era and began expanding overseas in the 1980s.

In 2015, CK Hutchison was born out of a restructuring.

Three years later, Li stepped down as company chairman at age 89 and handed control to his eldest son Victor.

The firm and its subsidiaries operate a range of businesses, including ports, in mainland China.

Li was known to have close ties with top Chinese leaders before Xi Jinping came to power.

Victor Li is a long-time member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, a top political advisory body.

– Exposure to China –

Rubio says the current arrangement is not in the national interests of the United States.

If Beijing ordered a shutdown of the canal, a Hong Kong firm would have no choice but to comply as “a company based in Hong Kong is the government of China”, Rubio said last week, without specifying CK Hutchison by name.

A former British colony, Hong Kong was handed over to China in 1997 under a “One Country, Two Systems” framework which promised a high degree of autonomy and a separate legal and financial system.

But Beijing has remoulded Hong Kong in its authoritarian image after the city saw huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.

Critics say the city’s two subsequently imposed national security laws curtail rights and undermine the free and open business environment that made Hong Kong an international finance hub.

In 2020, Israel rejected an infrastructure bid from CK Hutchison after then US secretary of state Mike Pompeo warned about Chinese involvement.

– ‘Never interfered’ –

A Hong Kong government spokesperson told AFP that the city’s authorities have “never interfered in the commercial operation of Hong Kong companies”.

The financial hub has been a “staunch supporter of the multilateral trading system and opposes any country imposing measures or restrictions that undermine normal trade or business operations”, the spokesperson said.

CK Hutchison did not respond to questions about canal operations. Last month the company directed AFP to a statement by its Panama subsidiary.

 

China Lashes Out at Hutchison’s Ports Deal with BlackRock-MSC Partnership

Hutchison would sell its operations in 23 ports worldwide but much of the focus is on the terminals in Panama (CK Hutchison file photo)

Published Mar 14, 2025 12:13 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

After initially saying it would not comment on a “commercial deal,” the Chinese government used the media to lash out at the deal and criticize CK Hutchison. The proposed sale involves operations in 43 global ports outside China and the terminals at each side of the Panama Canal but is becoming embroiled in the larger political debate and the trade war between Trump and China as well as the government’s criticism of Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing who controls CK Hutchison.

The government-owned newspaper Ta Kung Pao based in Hong Kong and seen as a mouthpiece for the Chinese Communist Party released a strongly worded editorial on Thursday, March 13, attacking the deal on patriotic terms. It cites the Trump administration's moves on tariffs and pending proposal for port fees on Chinese-built ships rolling it all into an American plot for domination. They warn the deal is part of a plot to deprive China of access to key shipping routes and global trade.

The New York Times highlights that the article says if the deal is completed, “the United States will definitely use it for political purposes and promote its own political agenda. China’s shipping and trade there will inevitably be subject to the United States.”

The reports cite that there has been a growing strain between Li Ka-shing and the Communist government which views him as supporting rival positions. The article calls CK Hutchison which said it would make $19 billion on the deal “profit-seeking,” and says it is “spineless groveling,” as well as a betrayal of the Chinese people. 

Saying that the deal goes against national interests, the editorial warns that the company “should think twice,” and “carefully,” about its position and where it stands. Official government sources quickly reposted the article which was seen as a further government endorsement of the positions.

Analysts said it was not surprising that China would speak out against the deal but it might just be bluster as it does not want to lose its position in major ports such as Felixstowe in the UK, Rotterdam, Europe, Australia, South America, and Asia. CK Hutchison however would retain its Chinese ports meaning China does not have to approve the deal.

The sale of the two terminals in Panama at Balboa and Cristobal was positioned as a parallel but separate transaction. The government of Panama has already said it would be reviewing the sale and now Bloomberg speculates that Panama might use China’s criticism to reject the sale. Trump hailed the BlackRock deal as a key component to regaining control of the Panama Canal but NBC News reported yesterday Trump has also asked for plans to place a U.S. military presence in Panama possibly to seize the canal.

The terms of the sale are for a partnership with BlackRock and MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company’s Terminal Investment Limited (TiL). MSC has taken a low profile in the media creating the impression that the deal is BlackRock’s. 

Hutchison has not responded to the criticism of the deal but the value of its stock plunged as investors feared the sale might not proceed. The company had set the beginning of April as a target for a final agreement.

TRUMP MERCANTILISM

BlackRock acquires Panama ports from Hong Kong firm amid Trump pressure

Panama City (AFP) – Hong Kong firm Hutchinson sold its Panama Canal ports to US company BlackRock after US President Donald Trump's refused to rule out a military invasion of Panama to retake control of its strategic canal, which Trump says China controls.


Issued on: 04/03/2025 - 
By:FRANCE 24   

US President Donald Trump has refused to rule out a military invasion of Panama to regain control of the canal © MARTIN BERNETTI / AFP


Under fierce pressure from US President Donald Trump, Hong Kong firm Hutchison said Tuesday it had agreed to sell its lucrative Panama Canal ports to a US-led consortium.

CK Hutchison Holdings said it would offload a 90-percent stake in the Panama Ports Company (PPC) and sell a slew of other non-Chinese ports to a group led by giant asset manager BlackRock.

The sellers will receive $19 billion in cash, the company said in a statement.

Hutchison subsidiary PPC has for decades run ports at Balboa and Cristobal on the Pacific and Atlantic ends of the interoceanic waterway.


But since taking office in January, Trump has complained that China controls the canal -- a vital strategic asset that the United States once ran.

Read moreThe Chinese interests behind Trump’s Panama Canal bluster

Trump refused to rule out a military invasion of Panama to regain control, sparking angry protests and a complaint to the United Nations by the Central American nation.

In a joint press release with the buyers, Hutchison said the deal was motivated by business, not politics.

"I would like to stress that the transaction is purely commercial in nature and wholly unrelated to recent political news reports concerning the Panama Ports," co-managing director Frank Sixt said.

"This transaction is the result of a rapid, discrete but competitive process in which numerous bids and expressions of interest were received," said Sixt, who described the chosen agreement as "clearly in the best interests of shareholders."

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said the transaction demonstrated his consortium's capacity to "deliver differentiated investments for clients."

"These world-class ports facilitate global growth," he added.

The Panamanian government, for its part, said the sale was "a global transaction, between private companies, driven by mutual interests."

It added that an audit launched into the PPC by the Panamanian comptroller's office that oversees public entities will continue in spite of the sale.
43 ports

The deal entails 43 ports comprising 199 berths in 23 countries.

CK Hutchison Holdings is one of Hong Kong's largest conglomerates, spanning finance, retail, infrastructure, telecoms and logistics.

It is owned by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing.

In February, Marco Rubio visited Panama on his first overseas trip as secretary of state, proof of the canal's importance to the new administration.

Rubio won a commitment from Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino to exit the Belt and Road Initiative, China's signature infrastructure-building program.

He also pressed for free passage of US vessels through the Panama Canal, which was denied.

Since 1999, the canal has been run by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) -- an autonomous entity whose board of directors is appointed by Panama's president and National Assembly.

The 80-kilometer (50-mile) long canal handles five percent of global maritime trade, and 40 percent of US container traffic.

Beijing has consistently denied interfering in the canal.

(AFP)

Ports sale offers Panama way out of Trump row: experts


By  AFP
March 4, 2025


Under fierce pressure from US President Donald Trump, Hong Kong firm Hutchison has agreed to sale two ports it operates at the entrance to the Panama Canal to a US-led consortium - Copyright AFP Pedro Pardo

Juan José Rodríguez

The decision by Hong Kong firm CK Hutchison to sell its Panama ports to a US-led consortium provides the Central American country with a convenient way out of its standoff with President Donald Trump, experts said Tuesday.

Trump has been fixated on the question of who controls shipping in the Panama Canal, which was built by Washington over a century ago to link the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and later handed over to Panama.

The Republican leader has repeatedly threatened the use of force to seize the canal, claiming that Hutchison’s ownership of two ports, one at either entrance to the canal, gave China control over the strategic waterway which links the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

Panama rejected the claim that China had de facto control over the canal, which handles 40 percent of US container traffic, while taking various actions to appease Trump.

Its campaign to dodge his fury received a major boost on Tuesday with Hutchison’s announcement that it would offload its ports to a group led by giant US asset manager BlackRock.

The sale offers Panama “a way out of the diplomatic crisis without needing to cancel (Hutchison’s) concession, which would further damage the investment climate in Panama,” Benjamin Gedan, director of the Latin America program at the Washington based Wilson Center think tank told AFP.

Panama’s government insisted that it had no hand in Hutchison’s sale, insisting it was a deal “between private companies.”

Frank Sixt, co-managing director of CK Hutchison, also argued that the deal was “purely commercial in nature and wholly unrelated to recent political news reports concerning the Panama Ports.”

But analysts said it came as a relief nonetheless for President Jose Raul Mulino, who had been under fierce pressure to reduce China’s footprint in the country, without riling the second-largest user of the canal after the United States.

In January, his government ordered an audit of Hutchison’s Panamanian subsidiary, Panama Ports, in what was seen as a shot across the bow at the group owned by businessman Li Ka-shing, one of Asia’s richest men.

In the end, one of Hong Kong’s largest conglomerates decided itself to bow to Trump’s pressure.

“In the Trump era, business is the new geopolitics,” Sabrina Bacal, a Panamanian political scientist, told AFP.

– ‘Taking back’ the canal –



In his inauguration speech on January 20, Trump declared the United States was “taking back” the Panama Canal, claiming China operated it.

On a visit to Panama two weeks later, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued Mulino with an ultimatum to immediately reduce Chinese influence on the canal or face unspecified “measures.”

Panama sought desperately to appease the Trump administration by first pulling out of China’s massive Belt and Road infrastructure program and then offering to act as a beachhead for Trump’s mass migrant deportations.

Panamanian authorities also began piling pressure on Hutchison, which handled 39 percent of the containers that passed through Panamanian docks in 2024, according to the Panamanian Maritime Authority.

The country’s Supreme Court agreed to consider two requests to annul the ports concession granted to Hutchison, which Panama’s attorney general claimed was unconstitutional.

The concession was first awarded in 1997 and extended for 25 years in 2021.

While Hutchison’s sale of the ports is expected to silence Trump’s criticism of Chinese involvement in the canal, he could however continue to complain that US vessels are being overcharged to use the waterway.

Last month, the US State Department claimed that Panama had agreed to let US naval vessels through for free — a claim denied by the Panama Canal Authority, the independent agency that runs the shipping route.

 

Hong Kong’s Chief Says Hutchison’s Port Sale Requires “Serious Attention"

Hong Kong's Chief Executive spoke out regarding the sale of Hutchison's foreign ports (HK Government file photo)

Published Mar 18, 2025 4:04 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

 

The Chinese government continues to apply pressure after the news of CK Hutchison’s planned sale of its international port operations, including in Panama to a partnership between U.S. investment group BlackRock and MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company’s TiL ports group. The deal has become mired in the politics between Donald Trump and China.

While Beijing has officially remained silent on the deal, it has used proxies to increase the pressure against Hutchison and Li Ka-shing, the tycoon behind the company. He has long been seen at odds with the Communist Party but when CK Hutchison announced plans to sell its foreign port operations early in March it called the deal “purely commercial,” and said it was “unrelated to recent political news reports,” in a veiled reference to Trump’s assertions regarding the Panama Canal. 

The company, headquartered in Hong Kong, has largely gone silent in the face of the campaign being waged in the media. Yesterday, the company said it would not hold its normal briefings with investors and the media when it releases its financial results.

In a regularly scheduled press conference, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee spoke out against the proposed sale echoing last week’s pressure from a newspaper closely linked to the Community Party. Analysts highlight that historically Hong Kong has not asserted legal rights to review transactions selling assets to foreign companies, unlike the mainland government that closely controls foreign asset sales.

Lee speaking to reporters cited the “extensive discussions” related to Hutchison’s proposed sale saying it reflects “society’s concern” over the sale which last week the newspaper called unpatriotic and against national interests. Today, Lee said, “These concerns deserve serious attention.”

He said that any transaction “must comply with the legal and regulatory requirements. Hong Kong will handle it in accordance with the law and regulation.”

Hutchison highlighted when announcing its plan that the deal, which involves a total of 43 ports in 23 countries, does not involve its Chinese port operations. Further, the sale of the two terminals in Panama is in a parallel transaction subject to the review of the Panama government and separate from the other international ports.

China has said it views the deal as coercion by the United States and efforts to extend the U.S.’s dominance over China and others.

“The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government urges foreign governments to provide a fair and just environment for enterprises, including enterprises from Hong Kong,” Lee told reporters today. “We oppose the abusive use of coercion or bullying tactics in international, economic, and trade relations.”

At the same time, it was reported that China sent a delegation to Panama over the weekend. Under pressure from Trump, Panama has sought to back away from its close relationship with China including serving notice that it would not renew its participation in the Belt and Road initiative. The Panama Government continues to assert that the canal belongs to Panama but said it would review the proposed transaction between Panama Ports controlled by Hutchison and the BlackRock-MSC partnership. Earlier, Panama said it was reviewing the contract awarded to Hutchison to run the two terminals.

Hutchison and BlackRock agreed in March to enter into exclusive negotiations to finalize the terms of the transaction. The companies set a target of on or before April 2 to sign definitive documentation for the Panama Ports Corporation portion of the deal. It said that the acquisition of the HPH Ports Sale Perimeter would proceed on “an expedited basis” subject to the BlackRock-TiL Consortium conducting normal and usual confirmatory due diligence, settlement of definitive documentation, and receipt of any necessary regulatory approvals, amongst others.

The Chinese interests behind Trump’s Panama Canal bluster

Analysis

Panama has begun an audit of a Hong Kong company that operates ports at either end of its canal, aiming to dispel Washington’s fears of growing Chinese influence over a strategic waterway that President Donald Trump has vowed to “take back”.


Issued on: 23/01/2025 -
FRANCE24

By: Sébastian SEIBT

A crew member on board a Chinese container ship pictured during Xi Jinping's trip to Panama in December 2018. © Luis Acosta, AFP

As he laid out his “America First” agenda in his inaugural address on Monday, Trump made no mention of his most talked-about territorial fancies, such as buying Greenland or making Canada the 51st US state.

He did, however, repeat his pledge to take over the Panama Canal, suggesting control of the strategic waterway has taken precedence over his other expansionist goals.

The US, which played a pivotal role in building the 51-mile canal more than a century ago, agreed to gradually hand it over to Panama back in 1977, in what Trump has labeled a “foolish” move.

Trump's expansionist designs, from Greenland to the Panama Canal

To justify “taking it back”, the 47th US president reiterated his claim that the main link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans has come under Chinese influence.

“China is operating the Panama Canal and we didn’t give it to China,” he said. “We gave it to Panama and we’re taking it back.”
Two ports and an audit

Panama swiftly hit back at Trump’s remarks, denying Chinese influence and denouncing the US president’s threats in a letter to the UN secretary-general.

“We reject in its entirety everything that Mr Trump has said,” Panama's President Jose Raul Mulino told a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos in Wednesday. “First because it is false and second because the Panama Canal belongs to Panama and will continue to belong to Panama.”

To counter allegations of Chinese influence, the Panamanian authorities announced “an exhaustive audit” of the Panama Ports Company, part of Hutchison Ports, itself a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings.

The controller’s office that oversees public entities said the audit was “aimed at ensuring the efficient and transparent use of public resources” at the company, which operates the ports of Balboa and Cristobal on either end of the canal.

02:03

The audit “is one of the few things Panama’s authorities can do right now to try to counter Trump’s accusations and alleviate US concerns”, said Tabita Rosendal, a specialist of Chinese foreign policy at Lund University in Sweden, who has worked on the maritime aspect of China's “New Silk Roads”.

“It's a clever move by Panama’s authorities because they know that Hutchison Ports will comply and that the audit will most likely not reveal anything suspicious,” added Benjamin Creutzfeldt, a specialist in relations between China and Latin American countries at the University of Leipzig in Germany, and director of the local Confucius Institute.

A Hong Kong magnate

The Hong Kong-based company, which promised full cooperation on Wednesday, has already undergone a number of audits in recent years and has always complied with the exercise, both experts noted. It has operated the ports of Balboa and Cristobal since 1997 and secured a second 25-year lease in 2021, without it causing a fuss.

A giant of the industry, Hutchison Ports is not the type of company that could be easily manoeuvred by Chinese authorities.

“It’s one of the world’s leading port investors, with massive portfolios,” noted Rosendal. “They have interests in 53 ports worldwide and more than 24 countries.”

The company notably operates the port of Stockholm in Sweden, as well as five Dutch ports and a dozen more in the Middle East. Given the scale of its assets, any collusion with China’s geopolitical interest would surely not go unnoticed.

CK Hutchison Holdings, Hutchison Ports’ parent company, is one of the largest conglomerates registered in Hong Kong, a Chinese territory where companies still enjoy a degree of freedom despite Beijing’s political and security clampdown on the former British colony.

Describing the company’s Panama assets as a tool in the hands of Beijing “fits in perfectly with Trump’s narrative that Hong Kong firms are aligned with the Chinese government”, said Rodrigo Martin, whose research at the University of Salamanca in Spain has focused on relations between Panama, China and the US.

Li Ka-shing, the founder of CK Hutchison Holdings, was once the richest man in Asia and remains one of Hong Kong’s most influential figures. Rumour has it that “for every dollar spent in Hong Kong, five cents end up in Li Ka-shing's pockets”, French business daily La Tribune wrote in 2014.

Wealth and influence have enabled the likes of Li Ka-shing to “maintain a degree of freedom from Chinese Communist Party surveillance that you wouldn’t see elsewhere in China”, said Rosendal.

Nonetheless, Creutzfeldt argued that the business magnate’s significant assets in mainland China “mean the central government has, de facto, a degree of influence over his conglomerate and, indirectly, over how it manages its network of ports”.

A snub over Taiwan

Trump’s criticism of the way the Panama Canal is run rests in part on his unsubstantiated claim that US vessels are charged “exorbitant” fees compared to Chinese ones – a purported inequity that he blames on pressure from Beijing.

In truth Hutchison Ports “has no say whatsoever in how the canal is managed”, said Creutzfeld. “It’s Panama’s government, via the Panama Canal Authority, that sets the fees based on decades-old agreements of neutrality,” added Rosendal.

All ships transiting the canal are subject to the same tariff, regardless of their country of origin. Since 75% of all ships are American and only 21% from China, the canal’s second biggest customer, the US inevitably pays more overall.

05:30

But Chinese influence in Panama does not stop at Hutchison Ports.

In recent years, China has spent billions of dollars developing infrastructure around the canal and elsewhere in Panama. In 2016, China’s Landbridge Group secured a $900-million contract to manage the port of Margarita, Panama’s largest, located not far from the Atlantic entrance to the canal.

The scale of Chinese investment shows that “Panama has become one of the most important countries for China’s strategy in Latin America”, said Martin. “It’s a gateway to the continent for China, both economically and diplomatically,” added Rosendal.

Beijing’s economic diplomacy delivered a symbolic victory in 2017 when Panama abruptly severed longstanding diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

The following year Panama became the first Latin American country to join China’s New Silk Road, becoming a key link in Beijing’s hugely ambitious global infrastructure programme.

Back to the Monroe Doctrine?

Panama’s move to ditch Taiwan and establish formal ties with China did not go down well with US officials.

“There was very tangible irritation in Washington with the way this was done, since US representatives were given little advance notice,” said Creutzfeldt. “And this continues to affect US relations with Panama.”

Another bone of contention is the “potential dual role of certain technologies that Chinese companies are deploying in Panama”, said Rosendal. She pointed to Huawei supplying the country with surveillance cameras that could, if Beijing wished to, be used to gather intelligence.

“There is not much concrete evidence that China is using them for surveillance, but the question of the risk to national security of this type of technology is certainly a concern for many countries,” she added.

Martin suggested that Trump’s threats could mark a return to the Monroe Doctrine, a 19th-century policy aimed at dissuading Europe’s colonial powers from interfering with the political affairs of the Americas.

In this case, the message would be that “Latin America is part of the US sphere of influence and that China should back off”, he said. “Perhaps the Panama Canal is just the first step towards building that narrative.”

The risk, Martin cautioned, is that Trump’s aggressive rhetoric backfires on the US.

“If Trump starts to threaten Panama’s security, maybe Panama will shift its support to China because Beijing is not a threat.”

This article was translated from the French original by Benjamin Dodman.

Panama AG agrees Hong Kong firm’s canal concession is ‘unconstitutional’

THE TRUMP EFFECT


By AFP
February 26, 2025

The Panama Ports Company, a subsidiary of CK Hutchison, manages two of the canal's five ports - Copyright AFP/File Martin BERNETTI

Panama’s attorney general said Wednesday that concession granted to a Hong Kong-based firm to operate ports on either end of the Panama Canal should be scrapped for being “unconstitutional.”

The contract held by CK Hutchison Holdings, owned by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, has been at the root of US President Donald Trump’s concerns for Chinese influence over the waterway.

The Panama Ports Company, a subsidiary of CK Hutchison, manages two of the canal’s five ports, an arrangement in place since 1997 via a concession from the Panama government.

Last week, Panama’s Supreme Court agreed to consider a request filed by a lawyer to nullify the contract — the second such challenge before it.

On Wednesday, Attorney General Luis Carlos Gomez filed a submission in support of the suits and asking the court to find the contract “unconstitutional” for “improperly agreeing to transfer exclusive rights of the Panamanian State.”

Panama Ports Company manages the ports of Cristobal on the canal’s Atlantic side and Balboa on the Pacific side.

The arrangement was renewed in 2021 for 25 years.

The plaintiffs in the case argue that the company benefited from undue tax breaks and other benefits.

The legal challenge came after Trump threatened to take back the canal — built by the United States and handed over to Panama in 1999 — claiming China was effectively “operating” the vital waterway.

Following Trump’s charges, Panama also announced it would audit the Panama Ports Company.

CK Hutchison Holdings is one of Hong Kong’s largest conglomerates, spanning finance, retail, infrastructure, telecoms and logistics.

Panama lawsuit requests axing Hong Kong firm's canal concession

Agence France-Presse
February 4, 2025 

A subsidiary of CK Hutchison Holdings manages two of the canal's five ports (MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP)

Two Panamanian lawyers filed a complaint Monday to cancel the concession of a Hong Kong-based company for operating two ports on the Panama Canal, following U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to seize the vital waterway.

A subsidiary of CK Hutchison Holdings -- owned by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing -- manages two of the canal's five ports, an arrangement in place since 1997 via a concession from the Panama government.

But Norman Castro, one of the lawyers in the case brought before the Supreme Court, told reporters the contract "violates what the constitution says in about 10 articles."

"After a detailed analysis of the contract... we decided that an action for unconstitutionality was the appropriate means" to challenge the concession, said Julio Macias, another lawyer behind the suit.

The complaint also accuses the Hong Kong subsidiary of not paying taxes and benefits due to a series of advantages that are allegedly against the law.

Panama Ports Company -- a CK Hutchison Holdings subsidiary -- currently manages the ports of Cristobal on the canal's Atlantic side and Balboa on the Pacific side.

That arrangement was automatically renewed in 2021 for another 25 years.

The case comes after Trump threatened to take back the canal -- built by the United States and handed to Panama in 1999 -- as he said China was effectively "operating" it.

But temperatures have lowered since Secretary of State Marco Rubio's recent visit to the Central American country, with Panama President Jose Raul Mulino announcing they will not renew participation in China's Belt and Road Initiative.

Following Trump's charges, Panama also announced an audit into the company.

CK Hutchison Holdings is one of Hong Kong's largest conglomerates, spanning finance, retail, infrastructure, telecoms and logistics.

© Agence France-Presse

MONOPOLY CAPITALI$M
Britain's Vodafone, Three mobile phone providers to merge


Britain's Vodafone and Three said Wednesday they will merge to form MergeCo, the country's largest mobile phone network. Vodafone will hold the majority stake in the newly formed entity, pending regulatory approval. File photo by TOLGA AKMEN/EPA-EFE

June 14 (UPI) -- Britain's Vodafone and Three mobile phone networks announced plans Wednesday to merge to form the country's largest cell phone operator with 27 million customers.

Vodafone Group and Three-owner CK Hutchison Group Telecom said the agreement will see Vodafone the majority stakeholder with 51% of MergeCo with plans to spend $14 billion to create one of Europe's most advanced 5G networks, Vodafone said in a news release.

Vodafone Group CEO Margherita Della Valle hailed the merger as being "great for customers, great for the country and great for competition" with MergeCo claiming a million customers will enjoy greater coverage and reliability with 5G network penetration of 99% and a six-fold increase in average data speeds by 2034.

"It's transformative as it will create a best-in-class -- indeed best in Europe -- 5G network, offering customers a superior experience. As a country, the U.K. will benefit from the creation of a sustainable, strongly competitive third-scaled operator -- with a clear $14 billion network investment plan -- driving growth, employment and innovation," said Della Valle.

"For Vodafone, this transaction is a game changer in our home market. This is a vote of confidence in the U.K. and its ambitions to be a center for future technology."

No cash will change hands in the deal and the agreement includes an option for Vodafone to acquire Hutchison Telecom's 49% stake, possibly paving the way for an exit from Britain's telecoms sector for the company, which is part of the Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings.

Over the next seven years, the merger will also bring as much as $6.34 billion a year in economic benefits to Britain's economy creating jobs and supporting the digital transformation of business, Vodafone said pledging standalone 5G for every school and hospital in the country.

Three U.K. CEO Robert Finnegan said the deal marked a "significant step in our efforts to create a business that will build the biggest and fastest 5G mobile network in the country."

"The combination of Three UK and Vodafone UK will bring the advantages of 5G to every business and household in the UK, enabling the UK to deliver its ambitions for digital and economic growth and fully supporting the U.K. Government's objectives for a world-leading digital economy."

The deal will see MergCo jumping ahead of EE, owned by BT, and Virgin Media O2, owned by Spain's Telefonica and the United States' Liberty Global -- the current no. 1 and no. 2 networks -- to become the largest provider.

However, Della Valle, who last month announced plans to slash Vodafone's 104,000 global workforce by 10% as part of a strategy to revive the shrinking fortunes of Vodafone, has first to get the deal past investors and the tough anti-trust stance of British regulators.

But after long arguing that cutting the number of networks from four to there might be bad for consumers, the Competition and Markets Authority recently shifted its position saying it now held a more favorable view of amalgamation in the sector.

GUNBOAT DIPLOMACY REDUX

Trump reiterates threat to retake Panama Canal ‘or something very powerful’ will happen

Samantha Waldenberg and Michael Rios,

 CNN
Sun, February 2, 2025 


President Donald Trump reiterated his vow to “take back” the Panama Canal on Sunday, warning of “powerful” US action in an escalating diplomatic dispute with the Central American country over China’s presence around the vital waterway.

“China is running the Panama Canal that was not given to China, that was given to Panama foolishly, but they violated the agreement, and we’re going to take it back, or something very powerful is going to happen,” Trump told reporters.

Hours earlier, the diplomatic stir caused by Trump’s repeated and publicly stated desire for the US to retake control of the canal had appeared to ease after Secretary of State Marco Rubio, making his first overseas trip as the top US diplomat, met with Panama’s President Raúl Mulino.

Though Mulino told Rubio that Panama’s sovereignty over the canal was not up for debate, he also said he had addressed Washington’s concerns over Beijing’s purported influence around the waterway.

Panama would not renew a 2017 memorandum of understanding to join China’s overseas development initiative, known as the Belt and Road initiative, Mulino said, also suggesting that the deal with Beijing could end early.

Mulino told reporters that Panama will seek to work with the US on new investments, including infrastructure projects. “I think this visit opens the door to build new relations … and try to increase as much as possible US investments in Panama,” he said.

During the meeting, Rubio told Panama’s president and Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha that concerns over China’s “control” of the Panama Canal may mean the US has to “take measures necessary to protect its rights” per a longstanding treaty on the neutrality and operation of the canal.

The canal was returned to Panama under a 1977 treaty, which allows the US to intervene militarily if the waterway’s operations are disrupted by internal conflict or a foreign power. Today, more cargo than ever runs through the canal than it did during the years of US control.

Mulino said Sunday he doesn’t think there is a real risk that the US would use military force to retake the canal.

‘Panama won’t invest a single dollar in it’

Mulino also said Panamanian authorities are carrying out an audit on a company linked to China that operates two terminals around the canal.

“We have to wait until that audit ends before we can reach our legal conclusions and act accordingly,” Mulino said.

The company in question is the Panama Ports Company, part of a subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings. Hutchinson Ports is one of the world’s largest port operators, overseeing 53 ports in 24 countries, including for other US allies such as the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.

As CNN has previously reported, Hutchison does not control access to the Panama Canal. Workers at their two ports only load and unload containers onto ships and supply them with fuel. Three other ports in the vicinity of the canal are operated by competing companies providing similar services.

Mulino also said Panamanian authorities spoke with Rubio about the possibility of expanding a migrant repatriation flight program to remove foreign nationals who don’t have the legal basis to be in Panama, insisting that the US would have to shoulder the costs.

Asked to clarify if migrants would come to Panama and subsequently be transferred to their respective countries, Mulio said, “Yes. Exactly … We can do that, without a problem, under the total cost of the US. Panama won’t invest a single dollar in it.”
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The program, signed in July, is aimed at reducing irregular migration through the Darien Gap, a mountainous rainforest region connecting South and Central America. The 66-mile (106-kilometer) hike through the Darien brings migrants from Colombia to Panama and is a crucial passage for those hoping to reach the United States and Canada.

Mulino said Sunday that those repatriated could include migrants from Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and other countries.

This story has been updated with additional information.

CNN.com


US to Panama: end China's sway over canal, or face action

Reuters
Updated Sun, February 2, 2025



STORY: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been on a visit to Panama, and he had a blunt message for his hosts on Sunday:

End Chinese influence over the canal - or face U.S. action.

He didn’t spell out what steps Panama should take - or what Washington might do.

Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted that Beijing is running the canal.

He has vowed to retake control over it, and refused to rule out the use of force.

Also speaking on Sunday, he renewed the threat, but said military action probably wouldn’t be required.

“I don't think troops will be necessary in Panama. What Panama has done is terrible, financial security for this part of the world. And, you know, 70 percent of the signage on the Panama Canal is written in Chinese. That's not right. It wasn't meant for China.”
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He says Panama has violated the agreement that saw the canal come under its control from 1999.

After meeting Rubio, country President Jose Raul Mulino said he would review agreements involving China and Chinese firms.

But he reiterated that his country’s sovereignty over the waterway was not up for discussion.

Key to the discussion is a 25-year concession awarded to Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison, allowing it to operate ports at both ends of the canal.

The contract has been targeted by U.S. lawmakers as evidence of China’s influence.

Rubio has said Beijing could shut down the shipping route in the event of a conflict with the U.S.

Panama rejects that idea, saying the canal is run by an independent body under its supervision.

Though Mulino said he would review the Hutchison deal.

China says it plays no part in running the trade route, and has never interfered.

Rubio meets Panama leader on Trump demands for canal

Shaun Tandon and Maria Isabel Sanchez
Sun, February 2, 2025 

Marco Rubio (R) made his first trip as secretary of state to Panama (ARNULFO FRANCO) (ARNULFO FRANCO/AFP/AFP)


US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Sunday with Panama's leader to press President Donald Trump's demand that the United States take back the Panama Canal, as protesters vented anger on the streets.

Trump has refused to back down on threats to seize the vital waterway, and it remains unclear what Rubio can achieve diplomatically that would please him, with Panama firmly rejecting any claims against its sovereignty.

Rubio, in his first meeting abroad as the top US diplomat, walked past an honor guard outside the whitewashed walls of President Jose Raul Mulino's official residence in the tropical capital's old quarter.

Rubio shook hands with Foreign Minister Javier Martinez-Acha and flashed a thumbs-up sign before heading into talks with Mulino.

Sitting next to senior aides, Rubio and Mulino made no comments to reporters.

Rubio later in the day will tour the Panama Canal, the crucial link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through which some 40 percent of US container traffic passes.

Trump and Rubio say that US competitor China has gained too much power around the canal and could shut it down in a potential conflict, with catastrophic consequences for the United States.

Small but intense protests broke out in Panama ahead of Rubio's visit, with police firing tear gas.

Protesters burned an effigy of Rubio wearing a red, white and blue suit and held up pictures of him and Trump before a Nazi flag.

"Rubio, get out of Panama!" around 200 demonstrators chanted as the former senator met Mulino. Police prevented the crowd from approaching the Old City.

"To the imperial messenger," union leader Saul Mendez said of Rubio, "we reiterate that there is absolutely nothing here for Trump. Panama is a free and sovereign nation."

- Trump refuses to budge -

Mulino, in response to pressure, ordered an audit of a Hong Kong-based company that controls ports on both sides of the canal.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Trump said that concession was not enough and that Panama had "totally violated" the understanding when the United States handed back the canal.

"They've already offered to do many things," Trump said of Panama, "but we think it's appropriate that we take it back."

The Panama Canal -- which Trump has dubbed as a modern "wonder of the world" -- was built by the United States at the cost of thousands of lives of laborers, mostly people of African descent from Barbados, Jamaica and elsewhere in the Caribbean.

The United States maintained control of the canal when it opened in 1914 but began to negotiate following deadly riots in 1964 by Panamanians angered over foreign control.

Jimmy Carter sealed the agreement that gave the canal to Panama at the end of 1999, with the late president seeing a moral imperative for the United States to respect a smaller but still sovereign country.

Trump takes a vastly different view and has returned to the "big stick" approach of the early 20th century, in which the United States threatened force to have its way, especially in Latin America.

In his first week in office, Trump prepared massive tariffs on Colombia to force the US ally to take back deported citizens on military planes, after the country's leftist president complained that they were not being treated in a dignified way.

Just as Rubio started his trip, Trump signed off on sanctions on the top three US trading partners -- Canada, Mexico and China -- and told Canada it should be the 51st US state.

Rubio, the first Hispanic secretary of state and a devout Catholic, started his Sunday in Panama City attending Mass at a church built four centuries ago in the Old City.

He will travel to four more Latin American countries -- El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic -- where he is expected to press for cooperation on Trump's key priority of deporting migrants from the United States.

sct/bbk



Rubio warns Panama over canal, saying current status is ‘unacceptable’

Lauren Irwin
Sun, February 2, 2025 




Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent a warning about the Panama Canal, saying the current status of the trade route is “unacceptable.”

According to a summary of Rubio’s meeting with Panamanian president José Raúl Mulino released by the State Department, Rubio said there would have to be “immediate changes” to how the U.S. operates with the canal.

“Secretary Rubio informed President Mulino and Minister Martínez-Acha today in Panama City to address critical regional and global challenges,” the summary said.

The State Department said Rubio and President Trump have determined that the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party over the canal’s operations are in violation of the Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama Canal.

“Secretary Rubio made clear that this status quo is unacceptable and that absent immediate changes, it would require the United States to take measures necessary to protect its rights under the Treaty,” the release said.

Rubio thanked Mulino, praising his regional leadership in support of Venezuela democracy efforts and said it was a “productive conversation.”

Just days ago, Mulino said it would be “impossible” to negotiate about returning the canal to U.S. control.

Mulino spoke to reporters and said he hoped to talk to U.S. officials about immigration, security and the continued international fight against drug trafficking. It was unclear if he was able to discuss the issues with Rubio.

President Trump has continued his calls for retaking the Panama Canal, one of his priority issues in his first days in office. He criticized the Carter administration for selling the U.S.-built canal to Panama. He also was upset about high transit prices and the Chinese influence over the area.

Panama complains to UN over Trump canal threat, starts audit

Agence France-Presse
January 22, 2025  

The Panama Canal generates six percent of Panama's national economic output and 20 percent of its fiscal revenues (ARNULFO FRANCO/AFP)

Panama has complained to the United Nations over U.S. 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.

In a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the government in Panama City referred to an article of the UN Charter precluding any member from "the threat or use of force" against the territorial integrity or political independence of another.

The missive, distributed to reporters Tuesday, urges Guterres to refer the matter to the UN Security Council, without asking for a meeting to be convened.

Trump, in his inaugural address Monday, repeated his complaint that China was effectively "operating" the Panama Canal through its growing presence around the waterway, which the United States handed over at the end of 1999.

"We didn't give it to China, we gave it to Panama. And we're taking it back," Trump said.

Panama's President Jose Raul Mulino hit back that the canal was not a gift from the United States during a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.


"We reject in its entirety everything that Mr Trump has said. First because it is false and second because the Panama Canal belongs to Panama and will continue to belong to Panama," Mulino said Wednesday.

The president has previously denied that any other nation was interfering in the canal, which he said was operated on a principle of neutrality.

Asked Wednesday about the spat, Beijing denied it had ever "interfered" in the canal.

"China has always respected Panama's sovereignty over the canal and recognized the canal as a permanent neutral international waterway," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.

- U.S. pressure -

The Panamanian comptroller's office that oversees public entities announced "an exhaustive audit" would be launched "aimed at ensuring the efficient and transparent use of public resources" at the Panama Ports Company.

The company, part of Hutchison Ports, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings, operates the ports of Balboa and Cristobal on either end of the canal.

The comptroller's office said the aim was to determine whether the company was complying with its concession agreements, including adequate reporting of income, payments and contributions to the state.

Hutchison Ports PPC said in a statement that it has "maintained and will continue to maintain a transparent and collaborative relationship" with Panamanian authorities.

"We remain steadfast in our commitment to comply with all laws and regulations, fully exercising our contractual responsibilities," the firm said.

"Our financial results, audited by an independent external auditor, have been shared annually with our partner, the Panamanian State, ensuring trust and clarity in our management."

Trump has been raising pressure for weeks over the canal, through which 40 percent of US container traffic travels. He has refused to rule out using military force to reclaim it.


The Panama Ports Company's concession agreement was extended by 25 years in 2021.

The United States is the canal's main user, followed by China.

Since 2000, the waterway has contributed more than $30 billion to Panama's state coffers, including nearly $2.5 billion in the last fiscal year.


© Agence France-Presse


FILE PHOTO: Singapore MAERSK TAURUS container ship transits the expanded canal through Cocoli Locks at the Panama Canal, on the outskirts of Panama City, Panama August 12, 2024. REUTERS/Enea Lebrun/File PhotoFILE PHOTO: Singapore MAERSK TAURUS container ship transits the expanded canal through Cocoli Locks at the Panama Canal, on the outskirts of Panama City, Panama August 12, 2024.

 REUTERS/Enea Lebrun/File Photo

Panama president says Trump ‘lying’ about reclaiming canal


By AFP
March 5, 2025


The Panama Canal handles five percent of global maritime trade, and 40 percent of US container traffic - Copyright AFP/File MARTIN BERNETTI

Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino on Wednesday accused his US counterpart Donald Trump of “lying” about Washington taking back the Panama Canal.

“Once again, President Trump is lying. The Panama Canal is not in the process of recovery,” Mulino wrote on X.

“I reject, on behalf of Panama and all Panamanians, this new affront to the truth and to our dignity as a nation,” Mulino added, after Trump said that his administration had started to take back the vital waterway.

“To further enhance our national security, my administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we’ve already started doing it,” Trump said in a speech to Congress Tuesday. “We’re taking it back.”

Under mounting pressure from Washington, Hong Kong firm Hutchison said Tuesday it had agreed to sell its lucrative Panama Canal ports to a US-led consortium.

CK Hutchison Holdings said it would offload a 90-percent stake in the Panama Ports Company (PPC) and sell a slew of other non-Chinese ports to a group led by asset manager BlackRock.

The sellers will receive $19 billion in cash, the company said.

Hutchison subsidiary PPC has for decades run ports at Balboa and Cristobal on the Pacific and Atlantic ends of the interoceanic waterway.

But since taking office in January, Trump has complained that China controls the canal — a vital strategic asset that the United States once ran.

He has refused to rule out a military invasion of Panama to regain control, sparking angry protests and a complaint to the United Nations by the Central American nation.

Since 1999, the canal has been run by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) — an autonomous entity whose board of directors is appointed by Panama’s president and National Assembly.

The 80-kilometer (50-mile) long canal handles five percent of global maritime trade, and 40 percent of US container traffic.

Beijing has consistently denied interfering in the canal.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
Investment Bank Behind 32,000% IPO Probed by Hong Kong Regulator

Cathy Chan and Kiuyan Wong
Wed, August 17, 2022

LONG READ

(Bloomberg) -- The Hong Kong financial group behind an initial public offering that stunned Wall Street by soaring more than 32,000% following its debut has drawn regulatory scrutiny over deals it arranged in the Asian financial hub.

The previously unreported probe by Hong Kong’s securities watchdog into AMTD Group Co., which is run by former UBS Group AG banker Calvin Choi, predates the US listing of its unit AMTD Digital Inc. Despite reporting just $25 million of revenue in the year ending in April 2021, AMTD Digital’s market capitalization briefly surged above $400 billion in early August -- surpassing giants including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. The stock has since tumbled more than 90%.

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission searched AMTD Group’s office and Choi’s home in February 2021, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named discussing private information. Investigators were looking into its underwriting arrangements as recently as November, one of the people said. The full scope of the inquiry and its current status are unclear. Some SFC probes never result in charges and those that do can often take years to become public.

The regulator’s scrutiny adds to a string of controversies in recent years involving Choi, who is appealing a separate SFC decision to ban him from the securities industry for two years over what the regulator said were conflicts of interest from his time as a UBS dealmaker. A unit of China Minsheng Investment Group, which bought a major stake in AMTD Group in 2015, publicly accused Choi of financial fraud, even putting up posters with his face on the streets of Hong Kong, according to a 2020 Caixin report. It’s unclear whether CMIG took any further legal steps.

Choi, who didn’t respond to repeated phone calls and text messages, has appealed the SFC ruling and a tribunal will hear the case in December. In September 2020 he told newspaper Tai Kung Pao that the allegations from CMIG were untrue and he had never had any authority over CMIG funds.

An SFC spokesman declined to comment. An official at CMIG declined to comment. AMTD Digital didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

The financier’s firm is one of at least seven from Hong Kong or mainland China to see wild price swings after listing in the US this year. US Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler has repeatedly warned about the risks of investing in Chinese companies and last week said the regulator pays close attention to wild market moves, without specifically mentioning any firms.

The SFC probe has focused at least partly on small-cap IPOs that were underwritten by a unit of AMTD Group, the same one that arranged the US listing of AMTD Digital, people familiar with the matter said. Deals scrutinized by the SFC include IPOs of IntelliCentrics Global Holdings Ltd. and China Bright Culture Group, the people said.

Investment Avenues

The Hong Kong stock exchange in June 2021 sanctioned two executives at IntelliCentrics Global after the company used more than 90% of the proceeds from its 2019 IPO to buy offshore promissory notes via AMTD. The bourse noted that the company has said its purchase “was a temporary and interim measure” to manage IPO proceeds. Even so, the exchange found that the firm and two executive directors had breached its rules.

China Bright Culture Group, a television producer, invested $70.8 million -- or 60% of the amount raised selling shares in Hong Kong -- in a promissory note issued by L.R. Capital Property Investment Ltd., according to its 2021 annual report. The full amount was later redeemed.

L.R. Capital Property shares the same Cayman Islands address -- and company secretary -- as L.R. Capital Management Co., in which Choi’s father held a stake until December 2021, according to filings with corporate registries in the British territory and Hong Kong. The latter company, a former majority owner of AMTD Group, played a part in the decision by the SFC to ban Choi, according to a ruling by the Securities and Future Appeals Tribunal in Hong Kong.

According to people with knowledge of how AMTD arranged deals, the firm worked with select investors to cover shortfalls in demand for IPOs. After the IPO, the newly listed company would invest similar amounts into wealth products managed by firms linked to AMTD, the people said.

If shares of the newly listed company rose after the IPO, the investors would sell and share the profit with the listed company, the people said. The IPO issuer would then redeem its investments in AMTD-linked wealth products, the people said. The issuer also agreed to cover any potential losses suffered by the select investors in the IPO, the people added.

Documents seen by Bloomberg News show close ties between some of the investors. Three companies that invested in one recent IPO underwritten by AMTD, for example, shared the same company secretary and two of them are registered on the same Hong Kong address, the documents show.

“Any kind of manipulation that is obscuring the nature of the cash flow or the nature of the company is a form of market manipulation that regulators are, or should be, watching out for,” said Veronique Lafon-Vinais, associate professor of business education at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, speaking in general.

Without prior consent from regulators, listing rules in Hong Kong prohibit underwriters from allocating IPO shares to “connected clients,” or nominee companies unless the name of the ultimate beneficiary is disclosed, according to the placing guidelines.

AMTD Group has helped arrange at least 62 IPOs in Hong Kong and the US, including those of Ebang International Holdings Inc. and Molecular Data Inc., which together raised close to $200 million in New York in 2020.

In an April 2021 report, short seller Hindenburg Research alleged that both firms had diverted a majority of the funds raised into bonds issued by companies linked to AMTD.

In a statement last year, Ebang said that as part of its treasury management it had invested proceeds in bonds in “arm’s length transactions facilitated by AMTD,” and has redeemed the investment in full. Molecular Data invested $58.4 million in wealth management products issued by L.R. Capital Property, according to a company filing. The firm served notice for full redemption of the note at the end of 2021.

Intellicentrics, China Bright Future, Ebang and Molecular Data didn’t respond to emails seeking comment.

Connected Companies

Hong Kong’s market has long been plagued by allegations of transactions between closely connected companies. In 2018, the SFC’s enforcement chief accused a “nefarious network” of listed companies, brokers, money lenders and advisers of enriching themselves off unsuspecting investors. The regulator has since clamped down on the small-cap market, known as GEM, to root out the extreme price swings caused by so-called “ramp-and-dump” schemes that inflated the value of thinly traded companies.

Similarly extreme gyrations are now confounding US investors. AMTD Digital shares surged at one point to as high as $2,555.30 from its $7.80 IPO price, before falling to $186.93 on Wednesday. Another affiliate, AMTD Idea Group, climbed as much as 536% in New York. A little know financial services company, Magic Empire Global Ltd. -- unaffiliated with AMTD -- jumped as much as 2,825% following its debut on Aug. 6 before tumbling again. Other Chinese or Hong Kong-based firms have also seen big swings after listing in New York.

AMTD Group was founded in 2003 by Commonwealth Bank of Australia and billionaire Li Ka-shing’s CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. Morgan Stanley’s private equity unit is also an investor, though it has pared back in recent years.

Choi took the helm after leaving UBS in 2015 with the backing of China Minsheng, which then held an effective 25% stake in AMTD Group. Choi’s mandate was to diversify away from insurance brokering to investment banking, asset management and financial technology. The US-listed AMTD Idea calls itself Asia’s largest independent investment bank and has boasted of “unparalleled access” to capital from Hong Kong tycoons and a “SpiderNet” of business contacts.

Choi is now the sole owner of a vehicle that controls 32.5% of AMTD Group, according to a filing. L.R. Capital, which Choi was linked to in the SFC probe, was a majority owner but sold its shares in 2021. AMTD Group owns 50.6% of AMTD Idea, which on Aug. 16 said it would inject $500 million in assets into AMTD Digital to bring its ownership to 87.64%.

A Hong Kong native and Canadian citizen, Choi has been a fixture at annual financial technology events in Singapore in recent years. In 2019, he joined former Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam on a foreign trip to Thailand and Malaysia, but a bid last year to join the 1,500-person electorate that picks the city’s leader was rejected by a vetting committee.

In the ban on Choi issued in January, the SFC said he failed to disclose his connection to L.R. Capital, which was an integral part of deals he was working on at UBS in 2014 and 2015.

In a statement last year, the financier hit back at critics, without mentioning any specifics. “There are those who envy and [are] jealous, and those who are cold-eyed and mockers, and malicious, there are slanderers,” he said. “However, entrepreneurs must insist that development is the last word.”

Some of AMTD’s most high-profile backers are now distancing themselves from the firm. Li’s CK Group plans to sell its remaining stake in AMTD Group, it said earlier this month. CK Group said it held less than 4% of AMTD Group and isn’t invested directly in AMTD Digital.

Morgan Stanley’s private equity unit, which bought a stake in AMTD Group in 2014, later sold most of its holding. It has no involvement in daily operations and is looking to exit the remaining 1.7% it still holds, a person familiar with the matter said.

Media representatives at Morgan Stanley and CK Group declined to comment.