Photo: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian

The Chinese side has already made responses to the ruling, and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government has also issued a statement. China will firmly safeguard the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Wednesday at a regular press briefing. The remarks were made in response to reports that on January 30 Panama's Supreme Court ruled the port operating rights at both ends of the Panama Canal held by CK Hutchison Holdings unconstitutional, as well as remarks by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcoming the ruling and comments by John Moolenaar, chair of the US House's so-called "Select Committee on China," claiming that the Western Hemisphere does not welcome China's "malign influence."

Lin stressed that the relevant remarks by the US side once again expose its Cold War mentality and ideological bias. "Who is seeking to monopolize the canal and who is undermining international law under the pretext of the rule of law is plain for the international community to see," he said.

Global Times