China criticises Hong Kong firm’s sale of majority stake in Panama ports

China has criticised the sale of the business that controls ports in Panama to US investors, saying the Hong Kong-based parent company should “think twice” and that the $22.8bn deal is “power politics” that is not in the country’s national interest. Shares in the Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison fell more than 6% on Friday after a critical commentary appeared in the Beijing-backed newspaper Ta Kung Pao in Hong Kong. Last week, CK Hutchison struck a deal to sell a majority stake in Panama Ports Company, which holds the contract to run the ports of Balboa and Cristóbal until 2047,…