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An American investment giant has taken control of two major ports in the Panama Canal in a victory for Donald Trump, who has called for alleged Chinese influence to be curbed in the region.
Wall Street group BlackRock has struck a deal to acquire two key ports in the canal from Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison, which has controlled the terminals for nearly three decades.
The sale to the company – one of America’s largest financial groups – will be seen as a significant win for the US president, who has criticised alleged Chinese influence in the region and has threatened to seize the waterway.
In December, before Mr Trump was sworn in as president, he alleged that there was too much Chinese control over the waterway and that fees paid by the US to access the canal were a “rip-off”.
“We would and will NEVER let it fall into the wrong hands! It was not given for the benefit of others, but merely as a token of co-operation with us and Panama,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question.”
CK Hutchison is controlled by Li Ka-shing, the Hong Kong billionaire, who has in the past faced accusations of political “collaboration” with the Chinese state.
Some analysts have suggested that CK Hutchison’s management of the two canal terminals could be used by China to gather intelligence on maritime operations, although both Panama and China have denied this. CK Hutchison has not commented on the claims.
Despite this, Mr Trump has argued the US will be “taking [the canal] back”.
Last month, Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, visited Panama and told its president, Jose Raul Mulino, that the “influence and control of the Chinese Communist Party over the Panama Canal area is a threat to the canal” and was “unacceptable”.
The Panama Canal is considered one of the world’s most important routes for global trade because it connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Around 14,000 ships cross the canal every year – with the US accounting for three quarters of traffic.
The two terminals being sold, in Balboa and Cristobal, sit at each end of the Panama Canal and are part of five ports in the region which control access to the major shipping route.
CK Hutchison has run the ports under a concession with the Panama government since 1997.
However, America’s historical involvement with the Panama Canal has made it a lightning rod for Mr Trump’s “America First” policy.