Panama Mulls Port Deal Cancellation With China After Rubio's Sunday Rumble At Canal

Days after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio blasted the Panamanian government for allowing Chinese "influence and control" over the Panama Canal and called for "immediate changes," a new report suggests that discussions are underway with President José Raúl Mulino's administration to end Chinese-backed port deals. 

Bloomberg reports that the Mulino administration is considering canceling critical port contracts held by Hong Kong-based Hutchison Ports PPC, a subsidiary of CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. The report cites sources familiar with the discussions.

If the deals are canceled, the move by Panama could serve as a major concession to ease President Donald Trump's concerns over China's influence at strategic ports near the canal—an issue he has called a national security threat.

During a visit Sunday to Panama, Rubio told Mulino and other Panamanian government officials not to renew its deal with China's Belt and Road economic program. Following the meeting, Panama promised free passage for US warships and said it would withdraw from China's BRI program. 

"Trump has made a preliminary determination that the current position of influence and control of the Chinese Communist Party over the Panama Canal area is a threat to the canal," said US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce on Sunday. 

Also on Sunday, Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland: "We're going to take it back, or something very powerful is going to happen."

Rubio has warned that Beijing could leverage the ports to disrupt the global shipping channel, posing a risk to critical US supply chains. He also claimed that China could use the ports as staging points in future military operations. 

Shifting the focus to CK Hutchison Holdings and its potential ties to the Chinese Communist Party, an analysis of public records shows several key risk factors, including forced labor concerns and high political exposure to state-owned enterprises. 

Here's the upstream ownership profile of CK Hutchison Holdings. Notice some familiar names?

Here is more color on those direct owners and shareholders of the HK-based holdings company.

If Panama bends the knee to Trump, like Mexico and Canada, on border security, then this would be another win for the 'America First' agenda. 

Beyond concerns over canal security, Trump admin folks should scrutinize CK Hutchison Holdings' direct owners and shareholders. We did the first leg of FININT above...