A Hong Kong-based company, CK Hutchison Holding, has agreed to sell its stake in two key ports on the Panama Canal to a group led by US investment firm BlackRock. The sale is reportedly worth $22.8 billion (£17.8 billion) and will require approval from the Panamanian government.
The decision to sell comes after weeks of complaints from President Donald Trump that the canal is under Chinese control and that the US should take control of the major shipping route. However, CK Hutchison, founded by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, is not owned by the Chinese government and has operated the ports since 1997 under Chinese financial laws.
The deal includes a total of 43 ports in 23 countries around the world, including the two canal terminals, the 51-mile (82km) Panama Canal cuts across the central American nation and is the main link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Up to 14,000 ships travel through it each year, including container ships carrying cars, natural gas and other goods, and military vessels.
The US maintained control over the canal zone until 1977 when treaties gradually ceded the land back to Panama. After a period of joint control, Panama took sole control in 1999.
Trump has made several arguments for retaking control of the canal and the surrounding area, arguing that Chinese influence is a national security threat and that US ships are charged too much for using the waterway. Panama has rejected the US government claims and President Jose Raul Mulino has said the canal “is and will remain” in the central American country’s hands.
In a statement announcing the business deal, Frank Sixt, co-managing director of CK Hutchison, said: “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.”
BlackRock is one of the world’s largest asset management companies, and the group buying the ports also includes Terminal Investment Limited, a Swiss company.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyzlk259g2o
