By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-01-13 01:01:22 | Updated at 2025-01-13 03:36:28
3 hours ago
President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to retake the Panama Canal to safeguard US national security has raised questions about the possible impact on Hong Kong and mainland Chinese companies operating there.
CK Hutchison Holdings, founded by Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, is a major player as its subsidiary, Hutchison Ports PPC, has operated two ports at either end of the canal since 1997.
Like other Chinese firms with projects there, it would be severely affected if Trump went ahead with his threat to take control of the canal, analysts said.
He has repeatedly mentioned his desire for the US to take control of the canal and Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory. On Wednesday, he did not rule out using military force or economic pressure to claim both.
Trump has complained that Panama charges US vessels “exorbitant prices”, and alleged Chinese influence over the strategic waterway.
International relations expert Wilson Chan Wai-shun said American politicians had complained about Hutchison Ports’ presence in Panama from as long ago as the early 1990s, accusing it of enabling Chinese control of the canal.
