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Alex Lo

Poor CK Hutchison! Hong Kong’s best known home-grown international conglomerate has been forced to exit its global port business. Under pressure from Washington, its operations at the Panama Canal were especially targeted.
Strangely, though, Li Ka-shing, the city’s most famous tycoon, and his son Victor – their family controls the corporation – have been heard laughing all the way to the bank this week after they sold the business for US$23 billion.
For the price, a group led by US-based BlackRock gets two ports at either end of the canal along with more than 40 others in 23 countries. Priced at roughly 13 times earnings in 2024, it means the Lis and their fellow shareholders get to pocket more than a dozen years of earnings. The share price of No 1 – that’s CK Hutchison’s trading code on the Hong Kong stock exchange – shot up more than 30 per cent on news of the deal.
Could this be a win-win for both sides? Not really. In the mental universe of Donald Trump, there are only winners and losers, and he always wins, no matter what. And the stock market is the ultimate arbiter.
But if the US president has scored another big win, the Chinese must be the loser. Addressing a joint session of the US Congress this week, Trump declared that his administration was “reclaiming the Panama Canal” to protect US national security,
“The Panama Canal was built by Americans for Americans, not for others,” he said, “We didn’t give it to China. We gave it to Panama and we’re taking it back.”
All that for targeting what is essentially a port management subsidiary from Hong Kong? Some blow to President Xi Jinping indeed!
It wasn’t clear Beijing was even in the fight, never having cared too much about CK’s management – not control – of sections of the canal. The Lis, though, were certainly in it for the money. It’s not for nothing that the nonagenarian Li used to be called Superman. He was presented with a crisis, and turned it into an opportunity.
Trump? The man never misses an opportunity to create a crisis – and then claims he is the biggest winner.
His congressional address this week was a fabulist’s telling of victories achieved and those yet to come. His administration, led by bestie Elon Musk, did not stop welfare cheques being sent to millions of dead people. No, America did not send US$350 billion to Ukraine.
Not even his most loyal fans, unless they are completely financially illiterate, think he will balance the federal budget, as he promised. However, some of them might buy the claim that his was the greatest presidential comeback in history, for better or worse.
Trump said again he would take Greenland, just like he did with the Panama Canal, and create a “golden dome” – whatever that means – for America. Gold prices are at an all-time high, so that might not help with balancing the budget.
However, he didn’t mention his favourite measure of success, the US stock market, which has now completely erased all the gains made since he was re-elected. You wonder why.
This week also saw the start of the “two sessions” of China’s annual parliamentary meetings, where top policymakers announced plans for the economy, military, trade, diplomacy, the environment and more. The Hang Seng Index hit a three-year high.
Policymakers reaffirmed their target growth for the gross domestic product; prepared for a trade war they didn’t want; and promised to boost financial reserves, clean up local government debt, and manage interest and exchange rates to curtail financial risks. They would focus on promoting the tech sector and encouraging domestic consumption.
They won’t succeed in all of them or all at once. Some of those goals will take years to achieve and may yet fail. But they are viable, rational, realistic and reasonable.
Contrast that with Trump’s routine bombastic claims, which make the job of fact-checkers completely pointless. Unfortunately, fables and tall tales go a long way in Washington these days.


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Diplomacy

Realist Xi vs fabulist Trump, just guess who will come out on top

A man walks near the entrance of the Balboa Port after Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison Holdings agreed to sell its interests in a key Panama Canal port operator. Photo: Reuters

1 word to unpack Hutchison’s exit from Panama and other ports: geopolitics

A ship sails through the Panama Canal near Balboa Port after Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison agreed to sell its interests in a key dock operator to a BlackRock-backed consortium. Photo: Enea Lebrun

The entrance of Balboa Port. International relations expert Wilson Chan said it was important to watch how CK Hutchison would use its sales proceeds, which could reflect how it was re-evaluating its business ties with overseas markets. Photo: Reuters

Panama president says Trump ‘lying’ about reclaiming canal

Panama President Jose Raul Mulino speaks during a press conference in Panama City on February 2. Photo: AFP

Brace for more US pressure on Chinese investment after Panama Ports sale, analysts warn

Washington has questioned whether China is involved in the management of the Panama Canal. Photo: AFP

Opinion

US president’s Panama Canal move, while having made a lot of money for HK tycoon, is more like misdirected fire than a win over Beijing


US president’s Panama Canal move, while having made a lot of money for HK tycoon, is more like misdirected fire than a win over Beijing.


My Take

United States

Hong Kong

China

Panama

Li Ka-shing

Victor Li

Donald Trump

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


Column

Realist Xi vs fabulist Trump, just guess who will come out on top

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}US president’s Panama Canal move, while having made a lot of money for HK tycoon, is more like misdirected fire than a win over Beijing

US president’s Panama Canal move, while having made a lot of money for HK tycoon, is more like misdirected fire than a win over Beijing