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Panama court urged to cancel Hong Kong firm’s canal contract amid Trump threat

Lawyers accuse a subsidiary of CK Hutchison Holdings of violating the constitution and evading taxes

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A container ship transits the Panama Canal in Panama City. Photo: Getty Images/TNS
Agence France-Presse
Two Panamanian lawyers filed a complaint on Monday to cancel the concession of a Hong Kong-based company for operating two ports on the Panama Canal, following US President Donald Trump’s threats to seize the vital waterway.
A subsidiary of CK Hutchison Holdings – owned by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing – manages two of the canal’s five ports, an arrangement in place since 1997 via a concession from the Panama government.

But Norman Castro, one of the lawyers in the case brought before the Supreme Court, told reporters the contract “violates what the constitution says in about 10 articles”.

“After a detailed analysis of the contract … we decided that an action for unconstitutionality was the appropriate means” to challenge the concession, said Julio Macias, another lawyer behind the suit.

The complaint also accuses the Hong Kong subsidiary of not paying taxes and benefits due to a series of advantages that are allegedly against the law.

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Panama Ports Company – a CK Hutchison Holdings subsidiary – currently manages the ports of Cristobal on the canal’s Atlantic side and Balboa on the Pacific side.

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