The Hong Kong Company at the Center of Panama’s China Problem
A closer look at CK Hutchison, whose subsidiary operates ports on either end of the Panama Canal.
The Hapag-Lloyd cargo ship enters the Miraflores Locks in the Panama Canal, December 7, 2019. Credit: Solarisys via Adobe Stock
Does China control the Panama Canal? It’s a question that has unexpectedly come to the fore in the early days of President Donald Trump’s new administration.
At the heart of the answer lies CK Hutchison, a company with a history dating back some two centuries that is owned by Hong Kong’s richest man, and which operates infrastructure assets around the world — including port terminals at the Atlantic and Pacific ends of the canal, through which 40 percent of U.S. container traffi
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