PANAMA CITY, Jan 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Panamanian Supreme Court on Thursday annulled the concession allowing Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison to operate ports at the Panama Canal, a year after US President Donald Trump threatened to seize the crucial passageway claiming China controlled it.
The Supreme Court found the laws which allowed CK Hutchison Holdings to operate two of the five ports of the canal “unconstitutional,” according to a court statement.
The lawsuit to cancel the concession was brought before the Panamanian high court last year on allegations that it was based on unconstitutional laws and that the Hong Kong business was not paying taxes.
Panama Ports Company — a CK Hutchison Holdings subsidiary — currently manages the ports of Cristobal on the canal’s Atlantic side and Balboa on the Pacific side.
That arrangement was automatically renewed in 2021 for another 25 years.
The case came after Trump threatened just days into his second term last year to take back the canal — built by the United States and handed to Panama in 1999 — as he said China was effectively “operating” it.
CK Hutchison Holdings is one of Hong Kong’s largest conglomerates, spanning finance, retail, infrastructure, telecoms and logistics.
It has sought to sell the Panama Canal ports to a consortium led by US asset manager BlackRock. — NNN-AGENCIES