Whoever Dares Not Listen to the Party — Just Look at What Happened to Li Ka-shing!

Just as the U.S.-China rivalry intensifies, Li Ka-shing's CK Hutchison Group announced on the 4th of this month that it would sell 80% of its global port business, for $22.8 billion, to a consortium led by the American firm BlackRock. The deal covers 43 ports, including the Balboa and Cristóbal ports at either end of the Panama Canal. This move immediately triggered a strong reaction from the CCP.

On March 13, Hong Kong's Party-run newspaper Ta Kung Pao published a commentary titled “Don't Be Naive, Don't Be Foolish,” harshly criticizing Li Ka-shing's move as “a betrayal and a sellout of the entire Chinese people.” That same night, the CCP's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, which oversees Hong Kong affairs, reposted the article on its official website under its “Hong Kong and Macau Information” section, further confirming that this position represented the official voice of the CCP.

Bloomberg reported on the 18th that Beijing has instructed agencies including the State Administration for Market Regulation and the Ministry of Commerce to review the deal, in order to assess whether it poses any national security risks or violates antitrust law.

The latest news from The Wall Street Journal on the 19th indicates that CCP leader Xi Jinping is furious that Li Ka-shing sold his port business to the BlackRock-led consortium without first seeking approval — a case of “acting first, reporting later.”

The report cites sources familiar with the matter as saying that Xi Jinping's main grievance is that CK Hutchison did not consult Beijing in advance. This move cost Beijing an important bargaining chip, since the Panama ports issue had originally been intended for use in negotiations with U.S. President Trump.

The Wall Street Journal noted that Trump views the deal as “dealing a blow to Chinese interests in America's own backyard,” and regards the Panama Canal as having become a symbol of the U.S.-China contest for global influence. Sources say that Xi Jinping attaches great strategic importance to the canal, and “does not like being portrayed as the loser.”

As is widely known, Li Ka-shing is not only Hong Kong's richest man, but also one of the iconic figures of China's reform and opening-up. After Deng Xiaoping launched reform and opening-up, Li quickly moved into the mainland market, investing heavily in China's infrastructure, real estate, ports, and telecommunications — his presence could be found in nearly every major key industry. That the CCP is now harshly denouncing Li Ka-shing as a traitor amounts to an open, public break with him.

Ironically, just a few weeks earlier, Xi Jinping had personally presided over a symposium with private entrepreneurs in Beijing, attempting to reassure China's private business community and urge them to invest in order to rescue the economy.

Holding a symposium to extend an olive branch to private entrepreneurs on one hand, while turning around to harshly denounce Li Ka-shing on the other — isn't that a glaring contradiction?

In truth, it is not really a contradiction at all. When Xi Jinping extends an olive branch to private enterprises, emphasizing that the private economy has broad prospects and great potential, this does not mean the CCP's attitude toward private enterprise has actually changed — still less does it mean private enterprises are free to do whatever they want, however they want. In Xi's own words at the symposium, what is really being demanded of private enterprises is that they “make new and greater contributions to advancing Chinese-style modernization.” Put plainly, this means private enterprises must follow the Party's baton — doing whatever the Party tells them to do, however the Party tells them to do it.

On the matter of Li Ka-shing's sale of the ports, Beijing's logic is that any major business decision must first be reported to the central government. If Beijing approves, the deal may proceed; if it does not, the party involved must comply unconditionally. Li Ka-shing acted on his own initiative, violating this iron rule, and as a result has faced harsh public criticism — and may face even more severe consequences still. Had he not been a Hong Kong businessman with assets spread across the globe, the consequences would likely have been far worse than merely being denounced.

Before, it was Jack Ma who was brought to heel; now it is Li Ka-shing who is being denounced. Independent scholar Wang Dan cut straight to the heart of the matter: the CCP's harsh criticism of Li Ka-shing is, once again, a message to private entrepreneurs — both in Hong Kong and on the mainland — that “you should not fantasize that you can buy safety through compromise. There is only one road to real safety: total submission to the Party.”

Whoever dares not listen to the Party — just look at what happened to Li Ka-shing!