香港首富因其公司參與的巴拿馬運河港口交易而陷入困境 (2/2)

Recently Yahoo News on-line picked up the following:

Hong Kong's richest man is in hot water over his company's Panama Canal ports deal (2/2)

AP - KANIS LEUNG

Wed, March 19, 2025 at 9:26 p.m. PDT 6 min read

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Ports carry geopolitical value

Some unconfirmed reports have suggested Chinese leaders were angry not to have been consulted in advance about the deal.

George Chen, managing director for Hong Kong at The Asia Group, a Washington-headquartered business and policy consulting firm, said Beijing may have been disappointed because it had almost no time to devise a response in advance.

Ports are valuable strategic assets and transactions involving them are always sensitive, said Wilson Chan, co-founder of the Pagoda Institute, a think tank focusing on public policy and the global political economy.

It is unclear whether pressure from Beijing will affect the deal, which has to be approved by Panama's government. China’s Foreign Ministry deflected a question about whether authorities are investigating the deal, saying reporters should ask other authorities.

Cancelling the deal would be risky, Chan said.

“Strictly speaking, you just let Trump take credit for it, then you later say ‘Sorry, I’m canceling the deal.’ You can imagine what Trump’s reaction would be,” he said, adding that would also affect how the outside world views Hong Kong businesses.

CK Hutchison has not commented on the controversy.

The company reported its 2024 financial results on Thursday, but did not hold a news conference. Victor Li did not mention the deal in his chairman’s statement but said the operating environment for the group’s business is expected to be volatile and unpredictable. He said he anticipated potential headwinds for the company’s ports and related services in early 2025 as shipping lines transition into their new alliances and ongoing geopolitical risk impacts global trade.

Longer term implications

 The first Trump administration sanctioned Chinese and Hong Kong officials for undermining the autonomy of the territory promised when Britain handed its colony to Beijing in 1997 under a concept dubbed “One country, two systems.” It promised the city could keep its Western-style civil liberties and economic autonomy for at least 50 years, but following the 2019 protests, Beijing has doubled-down on its political control of the city.

Li could try to placate critics who deem him insufficiently patriotic, Chan said, by using proceeds from selling the port assets for investments aligned with Beijing’s policies, particularly in developing Hong Kong and mainland port businesses.

But relations between private businesses and Beijing remain uncertain, said The Asia Group's Chen. Even though Chinese President Xi Jinping recently met with private sector business leaders in a show of support, some may wonder if they must follow the party line even if that might conflict with their business interests, he said.

If Beijing steps up pressure on Li to scrap the deal, the Trump administration could hit back with more sanctions and restrictions on Hong Kong and Chinese businesses and some individuals, he said.

The situation shows that Washington’s concerns about Hong Kong's business autonomy are valid, Chen said.

“This is bad when it comes to the defense of ‘one country, two systems,’” Chen said.

Translation

香港首富因其公司參與的巴拿馬運河港口交易而陷入困境 (2/2)

（繼續）

港口具有地緣政治價值

一些未經證實的報道稱，中國領導人對於事先未就該協議被磋商感到憤怒。

總部位於華盛頓的商業和政策諮詢公司 The Asia Group 香港董事總經理 George Chen 表示，北京方面可能感到失望，因為幾乎沒有時間提前製定應對措施。

研究公共政策和全球政治經濟的智庫 Pagoda Institute 聯合創始人 Wilson Chan 表示，港口是寶貴的戰略資產，涉及港口的交易總是很敏感。

目前還不清楚北京方面的壓力是否會影響該交易，該交易需得到巴拿馬政府的批准。中國外交部迴避了有關部門是否正在調查該交易的問題，並表示記者應該詢問其他部門。

Chan 表示，取消這筆交易將會有風險。

他說: 「嚴格來說，你就讓特朗普取得承功勞，然後你又說『對不起，我要取消這筆交易』。你可以想像特朗普會作何反應」，並補充說這也會影響外界如何看待香港企業。

長江和記尚未對此事發表評論。

該公司週四公佈了2024年財務業績，但並未召開記者會。李澤鉅在董事長聲明中並未提及這筆交易，但表示集團業務的經營環境預計將不穩定且難以預測。他表示，隨著航運公司向新聯盟轉型，以及持續的地緣政治風險影響全球貿易，他預計該公司的港口和相關服務將在 2025 年初面臨潛在阻力。

 

長期影響

特朗普第一屆政府對中國和香港官員實施了製裁，因為他們破壞了英國在 1997 年根據「一國兩制」理念將香港殖民地移交給北京時承諾的香港自治權。北京承諾香港可以保持西方式的公民自由和經濟自治至少 50 年，但在 2019 年抗議活動之後，北京加強了對香港的政治控制。

Chan表示，李嘉誠可以嘗試安撫那些認為他不夠愛國的批評者，利用出售港口資產的收益進行符合北京政策的投資，特別是發展香港和內地的港口業務。

但 Asia Group 的 Chen 表示，私營企業和北京之間的關係仍不確定。他說，儘管中國國家主席習近平最近會見了私人企業領袖以表示支持，但有些人可能仍懷疑他們是否必須遵循黨的路線，即使這可能與他們的商業利益相衝突。

他說，如果北京加大對李的壓力，要求他廢除協議，特朗普政府可能會採取反擊措施，對香港和中國企業以及一些個人實施更多製裁和限制。

Chen 表示，現況顯示華盛頓對香港商業自治的擔憂是合理的。

Chen 稱： “這對於捍衛 ‘一國兩制’ 而言這是糟糕的。”

              So, in the past week, Beijing's Hong Kong affairs office has posted harsh commentaries written by a Hong Kong state-backed media outlet over the tentative deal by Hutchison. That raises questions about the deal and highlights the difficulties of Hong Kong businesses in trying to balance demands from Beijing for national loyalty and their own capitalist interests. Apparently, if Beijing steps up pressure on Li to cancel the deal, the Trump administration probably would hit back with more sanctions and restrictions on Hong Kong and Chinese businesses. Let’s wait and see what will happen next.