Li Ka-shing’s Hutchison gets another Beijing warning over Panama ports sale

Beijing’s top offices on Hong Kong post article quoting residents urging firm to stand up to US pressure and to stand on the right side of history

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Hutchison operates two ports at the Panama Canal. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:31pm, 26 Mar 2025Updated: 9:25am, 27 Mar 2025

Beijing’s top offices for Hong Kong affairs have for the third time signalled their wrath at CK Hutchison over its Panama ports deal by reposting a critical newspaper article which warned businesses that disregard national interests will eventually “destroy their own foundations”.

The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office and the central government’s liaison office in the city on Wednesday published the article by government-owned Ta Kung Pao as analysts and sources told the Post that the clock was ticking, with CK Hutchison Holdings set to finalise the deal to sell its overseas port operations to a consortium led by US firm BlackRock by an April 2 deadline.

The report was the third about Hutchison’s port deal the Beijing offices have reposted in full in the past two weeks, moves seen as an indirect way for the central government to pressure Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing’s company into reconsidering the sale.

In the news story, headlined “Business practices that disregard national interests will ultimately destroy their own foundations”, the reporter suggested that CK Hutchison sold the port operation under US coercion and described the country’s action as “short-sighted” and “fuelling the flames of hegemony”.

The report quoted Hong Kong lawmakers, district councillors, economists and business associations in his article. They called on the companies involved not to be stubborn but to face the United States’ pressure with confidence and to stand on the right side of history.