By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-03-15 12:45:09 | Updated at 2025-03-15 17:18:52
4 hours ago
Beijing has stepped up attacks on Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing’s CK Hutchison Holdings over its Panama Canal ports sale by sharing another commentary warning entrepreneurs who choose to “dance with Americans” will have no future even if they secure a “big deal”.
The article, published by pro-Beijing newspaper Ta Kung Pao on Saturday and shared in full by the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office and the liaison office, also lauded well-known Chinese entrepreneurs who were “never cold-blooded profit-seekers but passionate and proud patriots”.
It was the second newspaper commentary about Hutchison’s port deal the Beijing offices have shared in three days, moves seen as an indirect way for the central government to pressure the company into reconsidering the sale.
In the commentary headlined “Great entrepreneurs are all staunch patriots”, the writer said Hutchison’s deal had fuelled concerns among Chinese over why the Hong Kong-based company would transfer ports to the “ill-intentioned” US so easily and questioned the “political calculations” behind the move.
“Did the so-called smart transaction take into account the interests of the nation? Is this choice aiding and abetting evil and harming China and the world?” the commentary said.
“Both history and reality remind entrepreneurs at the forefront of the storm that the only way to defend the nation, win dignity and maintain their reputation is to stand firmly with the country and fight bravely in the face of US bullying.”
