The Chinese government has strongly criticized a planned deal by a Hong Kong conglomerate to sell ports in Panama and elsewhere to an investment group led by an American asset manager, warning that the deal would deprive China of needed influence over key shipping routes.

一家香港企业集团计划将其位于巴拿马等地的港口出售给一个由美国资产管理公司牵头的投资集团，中国政府对这笔交易表示强烈批评，并警告，这将使中国失去对关键航线的必要影响力。

The criticism marks an abrupt shift in Chinese policy toward Panama and the control of seaports around the world. When President Trump raised concerns soon after taking office that China had too much power in the Panama Canal, his comments were initially ridiculed by Beijing.

这一批评标志着中国对巴拿马以及对全球海港控制权政策的突然转变。特朗普总统上任后不久就表示担心中国在巴拿马运河拥有过多权力，他的言论最初遭到了北京的奚落。

But Ta Kung Pao, a Hong Kong newspaper owned by the Chinese government and Communist Party, denounced the planned port transaction. The newspaper’s commentary, published on Thursday, assailed plans by the Hong Kong company, CK Hutchison, to sell ports at either end of the Panama Canal and over 40 ports elsewhere in the world for $19 billion to an investment group led by BlackRock, an American giant.

但中国政府和中共拥有的香港《大公报》谴责了这项港口交易计划。该报在周四发表的评论文章中抨击了香港公司长江和记的计划，该公司计划以190亿美元的价格将巴拿马运河两端的港口以及世界其他地区的40多个港口出售给由美国巨头贝莱德牵头的投资集团。

Ta Kung Pao is regarded in Hong Kong as a mouthpiece for Beijing, and has been praised by Xi Jinping, China’s top leader. But in case anyone missed the point, the Beijing government agency overseeing Hong Kong policy quickly reposted the commentary on its own website.

《大公报》在香港被视为北京的喉舌，曾受到中国最高领导人习近平的称赞。但为了防止有人没有领会其中的含义，北京负责监督香港政策的政府机构在自己的网站上迅速转发了这篇评论。

The commentary warned that with the Trump administration threatening to raise tariffs on goods that arrive in Chinese-built ships at American ports, China needs to preserve a presence in the Panama Canal. The canal was described as “the core route for China’s trade with Latin America and the Caribbean.”

该评论文章警告称，随着特朗普政府威胁要提高中国制造的船只运抵美国港口的货物的关税，中国需要保留在巴拿马运河的存在。巴拿马运河被描述为“中国与拉美、加勒比地区贸易的核心要道”。

If the deal is completed, the commentary claimed, “the United States will definitely use it for political purposes and promote its own political agenda. China’s shipping and trade there will inevitably be subject to the United States.”

该评论称，如果该协议达成，“美国一定会将之用于政治目的，推行自己的政治议程，中国在此的航运贸易势必受制于美。”

Ta Kung Pao said that internet users in China saw the transaction as “profit-seeking and unrighteous,” adding that it “sells out all Chinese people.”

《大公报》称，中国网民认为这笔交易“唯利是图，见利忘义”，“背叛和出卖全体中国人”。

The commentary concluded that the companies involved in the planned transaction should “think carefully about what position and side they should stand on.”

该评论最后指出，参与此次交易的公司应该“好好想想自己要站在什么立场、站在哪一边”。

Shares in CK Hutchison fell sharply in Hong Kong trading on Friday. Hutchison did not respond to phone calls or an email seeking comment.

周五，长江和记在香港交易的股票大幅下跌。长江和记没有回应寻求置评的电话或电子邮件。

Beijing had previously rejected Mr. Trump’s warnings about Chinese influence over the Panama Canal. President Trump welcomed the BlackRock deal.

此前，北京曾否认特朗普关于中国影响巴拿马运河的警告。特朗普总统对贝莱德的交易表示欢迎。

CK Hutchison is controlled by the Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, whom Bloomberg News estimated has a fortune of $31 billion. Mr. Li, nicknamed “Superman” by the Hong Kong media for his decades of shrewdly timed market moves, has had steadily deteriorating relations with Beijing since Mr. Xi took office in 2012.

长江和记由香港亿万富翁李嘉诚控制，彭博新闻社估计他的财富为310亿美元。李嘉诚被香港媒体称为“超人”，因为他数十年来总是能精准把握市场时机。自2012年习近平上任以来，李嘉诚与北京的关系持续恶化。

Mr. Li sold many of his real estate investments in mainland China in the years leading up to the Covid-19 pandemic and reinvested much of the money in Europe. His actions were widely criticized by Chinese nationalists, but proved to be wise in financial terms. He was able to get out of these investments before the start of China’s housing market crash in 2021, which has steadily worsened ever since.

在新冠疫情暴发前的几年里，李嘉诚出售了他在中国大陆的诸多房地产投资，并将大部分资金重新投到欧洲。他的行为受到了中国民族主义者的广泛批评，但从财务角度来看，这是明智的。他在2021年中国房地产市场崩盘开始之前就成功脱手了这些投资，此后房地产市场一直持续恶化。

Mr. Li expressed sentiments during the Hong Kong democracy protests in 2019 that were interpreted as sympathetic to the protesters and their demands. Beijing’s allies in Hong Kong were critical of him then as well.

李嘉诚在2019年香港民主抗议期间表达的情绪被解读为对抗议者及其诉求的同情。当时北京在香港的盟友也对他提出了批评。

Mr. Li’s disputes with Mr. Xi go farther back. In the 1990s, long before it was clear that Mr. Xi might someday become China’s top leader, he was the top official in Fuzhou, a city in southeastern China. Mr. Xi stopped a project by Mr. Li to build high-rises in a historic Fuzhou neighborhood.

李嘉诚与习近平的矛盾可以追溯到更早以前。早在1990年代，习近平可能成为中国最高领导人的前景还不明朗时，他是中国东南部城市福州的最高官员。习近平当时叫停了李嘉诚在福州一个历史悠久的街区修建高层建筑的项目。

It was not immediately clear if China would go beyond its criticism of the CK Hutchison deal, but the Chinese government has interfered in other commercial transactions in the past.

目前尚不清楚除了批评长江和记以外，中国是否还会采取进一步行动，但中国政府过去曾干预过其他商业交易。

Two real estate entrepreneurs who sometimes voiced skepticism of government policies, Pan Shiyi and Zhang Xin, agreed in 2021 to sell a controlling stake in their empire, Soho China, to Blackstone, another investment giant in the United States, for as much as $3 billion. But the Chinese government refused to approve the transaction, which then fell apart.

房地产企业家潘石屹和张欣有时会对政府的政策持怀疑态度，2021年，他们同意将其商业帝国SOHO中国的部分控股权以高达30亿美元的价格出售给美国另一家投资巨头黑石集团。但中国政府拒绝批准这笔交易，随后交易流产。