{"id":487849,"date":"2026-02-24T15:33:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T15:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/487849\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T15:33:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T15:33:11","slug":"hong-kong-protests-after-panama-takes-control-of-2-key-ports-on-the-panama-canal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/487849\/","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong protests after Panama takes control of 2 key ports on the Panama Canal"},"content":{"rendered":"

BANGKOK (AP) \u2014 Hong Kong is protesting Panama\u2019s seizure of two ports<\/a> on a canal vital for global trade that were operated by a Hong Kong-based company for decades, the city\u2019s government said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Hong Kong\u2019s Commerce and Economic Development Bureau said in a statement it had lodged \u201cstern protests\u201d with Panama\u2019s consulate, adding that it had expressed strong opposition and dissatisfaction and would \u201cstaunchly support the legitimate rights and interests of Hong Kong corporations overseas.\u201d <\/p>\n

The ports located at the mouth and tail of the Panama Canal, which have been operated by a subsidiary of CK Hutchison since 1997, became embroiled in a legal dispute after getting caught in the middle of the U.S. and China\u2019s competition for influence in the region. The ports became the focus of global attention after U.S. President Donald Trump accused China of \u201crunning the Panama Canal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Panama\u2019s government took control of the two ports on Monday after the country\u2019s Supreme Court struck down a law approving the concession contract for Panama Ports Company, a subsidiary of CK Hutchison. That ruling stripped the port of legal basis for its operations, and the company is now bringing arbitration proceedings<\/a> against the country. <\/p>\n

China\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also weighed in Tuesday. \u201cChina will firmly safeguard the company\u2019s legitimate and lawful rights and interests,\u201d said spokesperson Mao Ning at a daily press briefing. <\/p>\n

Panama said it would ensure smooth operation of the waterway.<\/p>\n

The director of ports for Panama\u2019s Maritime Authority, said at a press conference that the agency \u201ctook possession of its ports and will guarantee continuity of operations.\u201d He added that the entity\u2019s board of directors will approve a plan for transitional operation for up to 18 months until long-term operators are selected.<\/p>\n

Later in a televised message to the nation, President Jos\u00e9 Ra\u00fal Mulino said that the seizure was not an expropriation, but the government would keep control of the ports \u201cuntil their real value is determined for corresponding actions.\u201d He also assured that \u201ceverything done was not against anyone, but in compliance with the law,\u201d referring to challenges from the company and China\u2019s government.<\/p>\n

The ports are also due to be sold as part of a deal struck<\/a> by CK Hutchison with a group of buyers including Blackrock after Trump began putting pressure on Panama to reduce Chinese influence last year. <\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP writer Alma Sol\u00eds contributed to this report from Panama City.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BANGKOK (AP) \u2014 Hong Kong is protesting Panama\u2019s seizure of two ports on a canal vital for global…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":487850,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,28,14271,145877,2302,12,793,5425,34254,2026,224125,3140,3,56529,56531,3775,21,19,22,20,25,24,965],"class_list":{"0":"post-487849","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-central-america","11":"tag-corporate-law-and-regulation","12":"tag-courts","13":"tag-donald-trump","14":"tag-general-news","15":"tag-hong-kong","16":"tag-hong-kong-government","17":"tag-international-news","18":"tag-jos-ral-mulino","19":"tag-latin-america","20":"tag-news","21":"tag-panama","22":"tag-panama-city","23":"tag-protests-and-demonstrations","24":"tag-united-states","25":"tag-united-states-of-america","26":"tag-unitedstates","27":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","28":"tag-us","29":"tag-usa","30":"tag-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=487849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/487850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=487849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=487849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=487849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}