Panama's Standoff with China: Ships Detained, Billions at Stake

0:00It's April 8th. I'm Cory with the story. This is Global News, driven by AI and built for a global audience. Panama's foreign minister just called out China over a spike in inspections and detentions of Panama flagged ships in their ports. He links it straight to a January Supreme Court ruling that killed concessions for Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison to run two key terminals near the cause. Panama Canal Panama's government canceled those deals right after. The minister dropped this at a conference in a Sun seon, Paraguay, saying Panama's massive commercial fleet, the world's biggest, started facing extra, scrutiny and march. He hopes things cool off soon and stressed that Panama respects other countries' laws but wants the same respect back for its own court decisions. China's pushing back hard, slamming the ruling is bad faith after running those ports for nearly 30 years. CK Hutchison claims Panama illegally seized their property and fired off an international arbitration case seeking over $2 billion in damages.

1:03Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission is watching closely and Secretary of State Marco Rubio voice serious concerns this month about the detentions hitting Panama's ships. Tentions like this could ripple through global shipping lanes but for now, Panama's standing firm on its sovereign call while eyes stay glued on how. China responds.