The Chinese government has strongly criticized a planned deal by a Hong Kong conglomerate to sell ports in Panama and elsewhere to an investment group led by an American asset manager, warning that the deal would deprive China of needed influence over key shipping routes.
The criticism marks an abrupt shift in Chinese policy toward Panama and the control of seaports around the world. When President Donald Trump raised concerns soon after taking office that China had too much power in the Panama Canal, his comments were initially ridiculed by Beijing.
But Ta Kung Pao, a Hong Kong newspaper owned by the Chinese government and Communist Party, denounced the planned port transaction. The newspaper’s commentary, published Thursday, assailed plans by the Hong Kong company, CK Hutchison, to sell ports at either end of the Panama Canal and over 40 ports elsewhere in the world for $19 billion to an investment group led by BlackRock, an American giant.
Ta Kung Pao is regarded in Hong Kong as a mouthpiece for Beijing, and has been praised by Xi Jinping, China’s top leader. But in case anyone missed the point, the Beijing government agency overseeing Hong Kong policy quickly reposted the commentary on its own website.
The commentary warned that with the Trump administration threatening to raise tariffs on goods that arrive in Chinese-built ships at U.S. ports, China needs to preserve a presence in the Panama Canal. The canal was described as “the core route for China’s trade with Latin America and the Caribbean.”
If the deal is completed, the commentary claimed, “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.”
Shares in CK Hutchison fell sharply in Hong Kong trading Friday. Hutchison did not respond to phone calls or an email seeking comment.
Beijing had previously rejected Trump’s warnings about Chinese influence over the Panama Canal. Trump welcomed the BlackRock deal.