By Daniela Desantis and Brendan O’Boyle
ASUNCION, April 8 (Reuters) – Panama’s top diplomat on Wednesday said a rise in inspections and detentions of Panama-flagged vessels in China stemmed from a Panama court ruling against Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison and asked China to respect its sovereign affairs.
Panama’s Supreme Court in January invalidated the legal framework supporting conglomerate CK Hutchison’s right to operate via its Panama unit two key terminals near the Panama Canal, which led the Panama government to cancel the cancel the concessions.
Speaking at a conference in Paraguay’s capital Asuncion, Panamanian Foreign Minister Javier Martinez-Acha said he hoped the uptick in ship detentions in March would fall back to normal levels.
“As a result of the ruling, our commercial shipping fleet – the most important in the world – has seen an increase in inspections and detentions of vessels flying our flag in ports of the People’s Republic of China,” he said.
“Panama … respects the legal sovereignty of all countries, and we simply ask for the same treatment for ourselves.”
China’s embassy in Panama did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The detentions have become the latest flashpoint in the struggle between the United States and China for influence in international trade, with Panama and its strategic canal, which handles about 5% of global maritime trade, in the middle.
On Saturday, Panama’s foreign affairs ministry thanked the United States and several other countries for raising concerns about the detentions.
In late March, the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission said it was closely monitoring the surge in detentions of Panama-flagged vessels in China, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this month the detentions raised serious concerns.
China has said it opposes the ruling against CK Hutchison’s port concessions, calling it an “act of bad faith.”
CK Hutchison, which operated the ports for nearly 30 years, has accused Panamanian authorities of unlawfully seizing property and launched an international arbitration case against Panama, claiming damages of more than $2 billion.
(Reporting by Daniela Desantis in Asuncion; Writing by Brendan O’Boyle; Editing by Daina Beth Solomon)
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