Beijing calls Li Ka-shing a ‘traitor’ in Panama ports deal.
Beijing criticized Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing for “betraying all Chinese people” after his flagship company announced its plan to sell most of its global ports, including two at the Panama Canal, to BlackRock.
The Chinese State Council’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office (HKMAO) circulated an article titled “Don’t be naive and senile” on its website on Thursday, calling on the 96-year-old entrepreneur to rethink the transaction.
The article said the “big deal” proposed by CK Hutchison, Li’s flagship company, is not ordinary commercial behavioor, as it was announced after US President Donald Trump called for regaining control of the Panama Canal in January.
Wang says that, through this transaction, BlackRock will control approximately 10.4% of the world’s container terminal throughput, becoming one of the world’s three largest port operators; the company will probably cooperate with the United States’ suppression policy against China, increase the cost of China’s freight docking, and squeeze the market share of Chinese shipping companies.
Source: ASIATIMES