China’s efforts to stop the sale of a company that manages Panama Canal ports is proving President Donald Trump dead right about the strategically vital waterway.
Trump & Co. warn that Beijing’s pressure on Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison, which operates two of the ports, could wind up blocking US military and commercial shipping through the canal in the event of a US-China conflict.
Such a national-security threat puts the United States (and the West) in an untenable position, so the prez vowed to “take back” control of the canal.
Hutchison then moved to sell its canal operations to a group led by US-based BlackRock — a win for Trump — in a deal that was to be signed Wednesday.
But a Chinese state-owned Hong Kong news outlet on March 13 accused Hutchison of “betraying” the Chinese people.
Last week, Chinese officials froze any new deals between state-owned firms and businesses tied to Hutchison’s primary owner, Li Ka-shing.
Then Beijing last Friday scuttled the signing for now as it announced a government review of the deal.
Bottom line: China’s rulers look determined to retain control of the strategically critical maritime conduit — whether to threaten US access to the key shipping lane or to ensure it will remain open to Chinese vessels no matter what.
Beijing might stand down when it realizes its heavy hand in Hong Kong’s commercial market will frighten more firms out of doing business there — yet another step toward killing the golden goose of what had been a global financial center.
China’s leaders and their fourth-rate Hong Kong minions have already gone a long way down that road, with crushing of democratic dissent, the closing of Hong Kong’s popular Apple Daily (a publicly traded company) and the clumsy kangaroo-court prosecutions of its chief, Jimmy Lai, and several of its employees — all proving that what once made the city a great place to do business, the rule of law, is a dead letter.
If Beijing does try to permanently block the Hutchison sale, it’ll definitely speed the business flight from Hong Kong — and may still lose the canal ports, since Panama’s government could force the issue.
Meanwhile, it’s already proved Team Trump’s point: If China cares so much about who controls the canal, so should we.