Claims Exceeding $2 Billion, Hutchison and Panama Clash: The Longer the Delay, the Higher the Compensation
In response to the illegal actions taken by the Panamanian government, Hutchison has launched further countermeasures.
Recently, Hutchison issued a statement indicating that due to the Panamanian government's refusal to return assets illegally seized from Hutchison, the company’s losses continue to escalate. In response, Hutchison has raised its claim amount to over $2 billion. If Panama persists in its current course, the compensation demand will keep rising.
The statement pointed out that the Panamanian government has exhausted all means to delay proceedings—first claiming it hasn’t yet found legal counsel, then refusing to submit a defense to international arbitration, thereby stalling the arbitration process. During this period, the Panamanian government has continued to unlawfully occupy Hutchison’s assets without returning them.
As a result, both sides have engaged in a heated exchange of accusations. After Hutchison made similar allegations, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino strongly denied them, calling Hutchison’s claims “absurd lies,” and asserting that they had already retained a legal team and could soon proceed to court.
Fact has shown that either the Panamanian government is lying, or this legal team is deliberately dragging their feet. As of Wednesday morning, Panama still failed to provide a clear response, continuing to rely on the tactic of delay.
The root cause of this incident is widely known: under pressure from the Trump administration, the Panamanian government forcibly seized Chinese enterprise assets—similar to the case involving ASEMI Semiconductor.
But whether it's the Netherlands or Panama, they’ve miscalculated. They believed Trump was intimidating, but China is no pushover either. Anyone who dares commit wrongdoing must be prepared to face consequences.
More importantly, after this episode, the national credibility of both the Netherlands and Panama has been utterly destroyed. Which country would dare cooperate with them in the future? Sacrificing reputation for mere petty gains shows a dangerously short-sighted mindset.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1860622294450252/
Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author.