Critics of Hong Kong firm CK Hutchison Holdings over a deal to sell its ports around the world – including two at the Panama Canal – should “pause and calm down,” a senior lawmaker in the city has said.
Jeffrey Lam, a lawmaker representing the commercial sector, said in a Commercial Radio programme on Sunday that “a lot of people” had levelled criticism against billionaire Li Ka-shing’s CK Hutchison over the port deal without knowing the details, which have not been made public.
“I think we should pause, calm down, and refrain from making arbitrary criticism,” Lam, also a member of the government’s advisory body, the Executive Council, said in Cantonese.
CK Hutchison announced earlier this month that it had reached a deal with a consortium led by US asset manager BlackRock to offload its global ports business outside Hong Kong and mainland China, including two ports at each end of the Panama Canal, a critical waterway for international trade.
The deal came under pressure from US President Donald Trump, who claimed the canal was under Chinese control and vowed the United States would “take back” the waterway.
But the deal had also put CK Hutchison under immense pressure from Beijing. Two Chinese government offices overseeing Hong Kong affairs repeatedly reposted criticism published in op-eds in state-backed newspaper Ta Kung Pao. The op-eds accused Li’s conglomerate of “betraying and selling out all Chinese people” and urged it to drop the deal.
Citing a source close to CK Hutchison’s management, local media reported on Friday that the company will not sign a deal on April 2 – a previously announced deadline for agreement – for “obvious reasons.”
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation also said on Friday that it will review CK Hutchison’s deal, according to local media reports, a move that will likely prevent any signings on or before April 2.
Lam said a company’s decision must “have benefits locally,” but added that external parties could not easily influence its operation.
“Of course doing business involves buying and selling. I believe that all parties will handle the matter well,” he said.
“I hope that there will be an acceptable outcome for all parties,” he added.
CK Hutchison’s deal with the BlackRock-led consortium will return US$19 billion in cash, the company previously said.
Victor Li, son of Li Ka-shing and chairperson of CK Hutchison, said in a results announcement released earlier this week that the company is expected to operate in a “volatile and unpredictable” environment this year, without mentioning the port deal. CK Hutchison’s profits fell 27 per cent in 2024.
