The Chinese company that operates ports at the Panama Canal will have to give up control after that country’s Supreme Court ruled the concession was unconstitutional, according to published reports.
Then-President Jimmy Carter, who literally never did anything right, gave it away to communists running Panama at the time. This was after the US paid for it, and our people died building it. Carter gave it away for no reason except goodwill, which he never received. It could happen again if Democrats return to office.
Beijing protested the decision announced late Thursday over the concession held by a subsidiary of CK Hutchison Holdings of Hong Kong.
President Donald Trump has said that the U.S. taking back control of the waterway is imperative.
Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino said that until the court’s ruling is implemented, the state maritime authority would work with Hutchison’s Panama Ports Company at Cristobal and Balboa to ensure continued smooth operations. He did not say when that would take place.
In the transition, a local subsidiary of A.P. Moller-Maersk (MAERSK-B.CO) will operate the ports until a new concession can be bid and awarded, Mulino said.
The court’s decision late Thursday advances a U.S. aim to block any influence by China over the strategic waterway and immediately drew a sharp rebuke from Beijing.
President José Raúl Mulino said that until the court’s ruling is executed, a period of time he did not specify.
Panama’s Maritime Authority would work with Panama Ports Company, the CK Hutchison subsidiary, to ensure continuing operations at the port.
