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Source: AFP
The Hong Kong steadfast successful complaint of 2 ports astatine either extremity of the Panama Canal -- which sparked US President Donald Trump's threats to prehend the waterway -- has flouted the presumption of its contract, according to Panamanian audit results released Monday.
The audit recovered "many breaches" of the concession awarded to a subsidiary of logistics elephantine CK Hutchison to run the 2 ports, and concluded that Panama did not person $1.2 cardinal it was owed nether the contract.
The subsidiary, called Panama Ports, benefited from galore taxation exemptions and besides had irregularities successful a erstwhile audit that was utilized to warrant an hold of the concession archetypal awarded successful 1997, said authorities comptroller Anel Flores.
"This is simply a precise delicate issue," Flores told reporters, adding that helium would record a ailment with prosecutors successful the coming days implicit the unpaid concession fees.
The merchandise of the audit results came hours earlier US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was acceptable to get successful Panama, which has travel nether beardown unit from Trump to trim Chinese power connected the US-built canal.
The United States has said it is simply a menace to its nationalist information -- and the portion arsenic a full -- for a Hong Kong institution to run ports astatine either extremity of the canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific, done which 5 percent of each planetary shipping passes.
But Flores denied that the announcement of Panama Ports failing to grant the concession declaration had thing to bash with the Hegseth visit.
"This is an autonomous enactment by Panama," Flores said.
However, immoderate analysts had predicted that this audit would successful information purport to amusement irregularities, truthful that Panama could portion the Chinese institution of the declaration and frankincense appease the Trump administration.
"It comes arsenic a astonishment to nary 1 that the audit turns up alleged irregularities, since the thought was to person immoderate benignant of ineligible justification beardown capable to cancel the concession," Euclides Tapia, a prof of planetary relations, told AFP.
The authorities comptroller's bureau is an autonomous assemblage that examines however authorities money is spent.
It began the audit of Panama Ports successful precocious January to find if it was honoring the concession contract, aft Trump threatened to instrumentality implicit the canal, by unit if necessary.
Faced with Trump's repeated threats, the Central American state successful crook has enactment unit connected CK Hutchison to relinquish its power of the ports.
In March, the steadfast announced an statement to merchantability 43 ports successful 23 countries -- including its 2 connected the interoceanic Panama Canal -- to a radical led by elephantine plus manager BlackRock for $19 cardinal successful cash.
A furious Beijing has since announced an antitrust reappraisal of the deal, apt preventing the parties from signing an statement connected April 2 arsenic planned.
Panama Ports, a subsidiary of CK Hutchison, won the concession to run Balboa larboard connected the Pacific broadside of the canal and Cristobal larboard connected the Atlantic broadside successful 1997.
The concession was renewed for different 25 years successful 2021.
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Source: AFP
