Panama’s Supreme Court has ruled that contracts to operate two ports on the Panama Canal held by Panama Port Company (PPC), a subsidiary of Hong Kong’s CK Hutchinson, are unconstitutional and therefore void. The PPC, which is operated by Hutchinson, owned by billionaire Li Ka-shing, has been running the ports on either end of the Panama Canal since 1997. The ruling comes half a year after the validity of the ports was brought into question by then comptroller general Anel Flores.
The decision comes amid heightened geopolitical scrutiny over assets linked to the canal since US President Donald Trump began his second term. He has claimed multiple times that China controls the Panama Canal and talked of “taking it back”. A deal struck in 2025 aimed to see the ports sold to the US investment company BlackRock, but Beijing called the deal “despicable” and demanded that any sale by CK Hutchinson involve a controlling stake being given to its state-owned company Cosco.
The status of that proposed deal—and Beijing’s caveat to include Cosco—is currently unknown. US President Trump has been very vocal about his desire to ensure the entire Western hemisphere comes under the US sphere of influence. At the same time, China has worked very hard for the past 20-30 years to build its influence in the Global South—including Panama. Behind the Supreme Court’s decision is another decision, and there appears to be three choices: bring the ports under national control, give them to the US, or give them to a Chinese state-owned company.