Panama audits Hong Kong-linked canal port operator after Trump threat

The Panama Ports Company will be audited to ensure ‘the efficient and transparent use of public resources’ after China influence claims.

Panama’s president has rejected Donald Trump's pledge that the US would be "taking back" the Panama Canal. Picture: AFP

Panamanian authorities have launched an audit of the Hong Kong-linked operator of two Panama Canal ports, following US President Donald Trump’s complaints of Chinese influence over the key interoceanic waterway.

Auditors arrived at the Panama Ports Company on Monday “to begin an exhaustive audit aimed at ensuring the efficient and transparent use of public resources”, the comptroller’s office said on social media.

The company, part of Hutchison Ports, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings, operates the ports of Balboa and Cristobal at the canal entrances.

The comptroller’s office said the aim was to determine whether the company was complying with its concession agreements, including adequate reporting of income, payments and contributions to the state.

Mr Trump, in his inaugural address on Monday, repeated his complaint that China was effectively “operating” the Panama Canal through its growing presence around the waterway, which the United States handed over at the end of 1999.

“We didn’t give it to China, we gave it to Panama. And we’re taking it back,” he said.

A cargo ship sails on Gatun Lake near the Agua Clara Locks of the Panama Canal in Colon City. Panama celebrated the 25th anniversary of sovereignty over the canal on December 31. Picture: AFP

Mr Trump has been raising pressure for weeks over the canal – through which 40 per cent of US container traffic travels – and has repeatedly refused to rule out military force against Panama, historically friendly to Washington.

Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino swiftly denied that any other nation was interfering in the canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, saying his country operated it through a principle of neutrality.

“The canal is and will remain Panama’s,” Mr Mulino said.

Panama Ports Company’s concession agreement was extended by 25 years in 2021.

The United States is the canal’s main user, followed by China.

Since 2000, the waterway has contributed more than $30 billion to Panama’s state coffers, including nearly $2.5 billion in the past fiscal year.

Even so, Panama’s comptroller general, Anel Flores, said recently that “Panamanians deserve a little more respect and a little more resources,” referring to the port operator.