Beijing intervenes in the sale of the rights to operate the two parts of the Panama Canal, but there’s not much it can do, an expert says.
Beijing is meddling in a pending sale of port rights from a Hongkonger-owned company to a U.S. business consortium led by BlackRock, according to a China expert.
The deal announced on March 4 involves 43 ports in 23 countries. However, two ports—Balboa and Cristobal—in the bundle are receiving disproportionate attention because they are at the Panama Canal.
The seller, CK Hutchinson, is owned by Li Ka-shing, an iconic billionaire in Hong Kong. For decades, Hongkongers admired his success and nicknamed him “Superman.” As an immigrant from mainland China, Li built his empire by selling plastic flowers and then transitioned to real estate, telecommunications, and shipping.
Now, because of the deal, the 96-year-old tycoon is labeled as a traitor for “selling out the country and the entire Chinese population” and “spinelessly kneeling” before the United States.
Between March 13 and March 19, the pro-Beijing Hong Kong newspaper Ta Kung Pao published more than 10 editorials and commentaries, handing him the above reprimand. The articles further advised all businessmen to stand with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on critical issues. An article on March 13 said the deal could impact China’s foreign trade and the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s $1 trillion geopolitical infrastructure investment worldwide.
The Hong Kong and Macao Work Office, the CCP’s representative in Hong Kong, reprinted three of Ta Kung Pao’s articles on its official website.
When asked about the criticism at a press briefing on March 18, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee repeated the Chinese foreign ministry’s line that his government wanted foreign governments to “provide a fair and just environment” for Hong Kong enterprises and that he was “against any use of coercion or pressure in international trade.” He added that any transactions must follow Chinese laws and regulations.
Alexander Liao, a China expert and contributor to The Epoch Times, said his CCP insider sources in Beijing told him that Chinese leader Xi Jinping is angry at the deal that President Donald Trump touted in his State of the Union address on March 3. As a result, Liao said, Ding Xuexiang, a CCP Politburo Standing Committee member and vice premier of China, dispatched a special working team to Hong Kong on March 15 to scrutinize the Panama Canal deal.
By Terri Wu
