A top court in Panama ruled on Thursday that a lucrative port contract held by a Hong Kong company was unconstitutional, a decision that will most likely deepen tensions between the United States and China in Latin America.

巴拿馬最高法院週四裁定，一家香港公司持有的利潤豐厚的港口特許經營合同違憲。此舉很可能會加劇美國與中國在拉丁美洲的緊張關係。

The decision against the company, CK Hutchison, could eventually clear the way for U.S. and European companies to operate the strategically important ports. Last year, President Trump backed a deal that would have transferred control of the Panamanian ports and many others to a group led by a large American financial firm.

這項針對長江和記實業的裁決可能最終為美國和歐洲企業運營這些具有重要戰略意義的港口掃清道路。去年，川普總統曾支持一項交易，試圖把這家企業運營的巴拿馬港口及其他多處港口的控制權轉移給一家美國大型金融公司主導的集團。

The court said its ruling followed “extensive deliberation” after the Panamanian government brought a lawsuit that claimed audit irregularities.

法院表示，其裁決是在巴拿馬政府提起訴訟、指稱審計存在違規情況之後，經過「廣泛審議」作出的。

On Friday, Panama’s president, José Raúl Mulino, said that, once the court’s decision took effect, the ports would be leased out to new operators “under terms and conditions that are favorable to Panama.”

週五，巴拿馬總統何塞·勞爾·穆利諾表示，一旦法院裁決生效，這些港口將「在對巴拿馬有利的條款和條件下」重新租賃給新的運營方。

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday on X that the United States was “encouraged” by the court decision.

美國國務卿魯比奧週五在X平台上表示，美國對法院的裁決「感到鼓舞」。

CK Hutchison has run the Balboa and Cristobal ports at either end of the Panama Canal since 1997. The canal handles an estimated 5 percent of the world’s seaborne trade. On Thursday, CK Hutchison’s Panamanian subsidiary said it had “complied with its contractual and legal obligations" relating to the ports.

自1997年以來，長江和記一直運營著位於巴拿馬運河兩端的巴爾博亞港和克里斯托瓦爾港。巴拿馬運河承擔著全球約5%的海運貿易量。週四，長江和記在巴拿馬的子公司表示，該公司一直「履行與港口相關的合同和法律義務」。

The ports became a battlefront in the broader showdown between Beijing and Washington in which Mr. Trump, without providing evidence, accused China of running the canal. This thrust CK Hutchison, a conglomerate controlled by Li Ka-shing, Hong Kong’s most famous tycoon, into the geopolitical spotlight. Beijing has in recent years asserted increasing political control over Hong Kong.

這些港口已成為北京與華盛頓之間更廣泛對峙的一個前沿陣地。川普曾指責中國操控運河，卻未提供任何證據。這使得由香港最著名的商業大亨李嘉誠掌控的長江和記實業被推向了地緣政治的風口浪尖。近年來，北京不斷加強對香港的政治控制。

At a briefing in Beijing on Friday, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said China would “take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.”

週五在北京舉行的新聞發布會上，中國外交部發言人表示，中國將「採取一切必要措施，堅決維護中方企業正當合法權益」。

CK Hutchison proposed a deal last year to sell the two Panama ports as well as 40 others to a consortium of investors led by BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager.

長江和記去年曾提出一項交易，擬將巴拿馬的兩座港口及另外40座港口出售給全球最大資產管理公司貝萊德牽頭的投資者財團。

In last year’s State of the Union address, Mr. Trump linked the deal to his efforts to bring back control of the Panama Canal to United States, which ceded the waterway to Panama in 2000.

在去年的國情咨文演講中，川普將這項交易與他推動美國重新掌控巴拿馬運河的努力聯繫在一起。美國於2000年將這條水道移交給巴拿馬。

“My administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we’ve already started doing it,” Mr. Trump said. “Just today, a large American company announced they are buying both ports around the Panama Canal.”

「本屆政府將收回巴拿馬運河的控制權，而且我們已經開始行動了，」川普說道。「就在今天，一家美國大公司宣布他們將購買巴拿馬運河兩端的港口。」

But the deal was held up after China said it was reviewing it.

但在中國表示正在對該交易進行審查之後，這筆交易被擱置。

The decision by Panama’s Supreme Court could, on the face of it, hand Mr. Trump a victory when he has gone to extraordinary lengths to assert U.S. power in Latin America. This month, he seized Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s autocratic leader, and imposed a blockade on tankers trying to transport Venezuelan oil, much of which has been sold to China.

巴拿馬最高法院作出的這一裁決，從表面上看，可能先為川普帶來一場勝利——他一直在不遺餘力地鞏固美國在拉丁美洲的影響力。本月，川普扣押了委內瑞拉的威權領導人馬杜羅，並對試圖運輸委內瑞拉原油的油輪實施封鎖，其中很大一部分原油銷往中國。

Some analysts said Mr. Trump’s statements about taking back the canal had most likely influenced how Panama’s institutions handled the CK Hutchison case.

一些分析人士指出，川普關於收回運河控制權的言論很可能影響了巴拿馬有關部門對長江和記案件的處理。

“I don’t want to say that the Panamanian Supreme Court doesn’t have any independence and autonomy,” said Benjamin N. Gedan, director of Latin America program at the Stimson Center, a research organization. “But they were under an enormous amount of pressure to help Panama navigate this complex geopolitical situation.”

研究機構史汀生中心拉丁美洲項目主任本傑明·蓋丹表示：「我不想說巴拿馬最高法院完全沒有獨立性和自主性，但他們承受著巨大的壓力，需要幫助巴拿馬應對這一複雜的地緣政治局勢。」

A Panamanian government official disputed assertions that American pressure had led to the court decision, noting that it stemmed from legal actions filed years earlier.

一名巴拿馬政府官員反駁了有關美國施壓導致法院裁決的說法，指出該裁決源於數年前提起的法律訴訟。

“The actions themselves reflect the normal operation of Panama’s rule of law and the independence of its institutions, not pressure from any foreign government,” Alberto Alemán Zubieta, a special adviser to President Mulino on port and logistics, said in a statement.

「這些訴訟本身就反映了巴拿馬法治的正常運作及其機構獨立性，並非來自任何外國政府的壓力，」穆利諾總統的港口與物流事務特別顧問阿爾韋托·阿萊曼·蘇比埃塔在聲明中表示。

And the ports in Panama may not end up under the control of the BlackRock group or another American company. If, as expected, CK Hutchison is forced to relinquish the ports, Panama will invite bids from around the world for the long-term contracts to operate them. During that process, another company would most likely operate them temporarily.

此外，巴拿馬的這些港口最終也未必會落入貝萊德集團或其他美國公司的控制之下。如果如外界預期那樣，長江和記被迫放棄這些港口，巴拿馬將向全球招標長期運營合同。在此過程中，很可能由另一家公司臨時接管運營。

APM Terminals, part of Maersk, the Danish logistics giant, said on Friday that it was willing “to assume the temporary operation of both terminals.” APM Terminals bought a railroad last year that runs next to the canal, which is managed by a Panamanian government agency.

丹麥物流巨頭馬士基旗下的APM Terminals週五表示，願意「臨時接管兩處碼頭的運營」。APM Terminals去年收購了一條沿該運河運行的鐵路，該鐵路由一家巴拿馬政府機構管理。

BlackRock declined to comment.

貝萊德拒絕就此置評。

The Panamanian court decision itself appeared to rest on technical grounds that the extension of CK Hutchison’s port contracts didn’t follow the proper approval process, said Alec Tracy, general counsel and chief operating officer of Admiralty Harbour, a Hong Kong investment firm.

香港投資公司鍾港金融集團的總法律顧問兼首席運營官亞歷克·特雷西表示，巴拿馬法院的裁決本身似乎基於技術性理由，即延長長和港口合同的做法未遵循適當的審批程序。

Panama’s comptroller brought a case last year, alleging that a recent extension of CK Hutchison’s contract cost the country over $1 billion in tax revenue.

巴拿馬審計長去年提起訴訟，指稱長江和記近期的一次合同延期使該國損失了超過10億美元的稅收收入。

The court’s ruling is likely to be interpreted as a setback by Beijing, which took greater interest in the controversy over the canal as relations between the United States and China deteriorated sharply last year over tariffs.

這一法院裁決很可能被北京方面視為一次挫折。隨著美中關係去年因關稅問題急劇惡化，中國對圍繞巴拿馬運河的爭議表現出了更大關注。

After Beijing objected to the BlackRock deal, CK Hutchison announced that it was considering inviting another investor, from China, into the deal.

在北京對貝萊德交易提出異議後，長江和記宣布正考慮邀請一家來自中國的投資者加入交易。

Chinese media reported that the investor was COSCO, the Chinese state-owned shipping behemoth. Analysts said that decision was most likely a move to appease Beijing.

中國媒體報導稱，該投資者是中國國有航運巨頭中遠海運集團。分析人士表示，這一決定很可能是為了安撫北京。

While COSCO is not expected to be part of any deal for the Panamanian ports, analysts said its involvement in the other 40 or so CK Hutchison ports would allow China to be more assertive globally than if CK Hutchison had held on to them.

儘管中遠海運預計不會參與任何有關巴拿馬港口的交易，但分析人士指出，如果其參與長江和記在其他約40個港口的業務，與長江和記單獨持有它們相比，將令中國將在全球範圍內更為強勢。

Ryan Berg, a director of the Americas program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a research organization, said getting CK Hutchison out of Panama while giving COSCO a role in the other ports would be “a Pyrrhic victory for the United States,” because of COSCO’s close ties to China’s government and navy.

美國戰略與國際研究中心美洲項目主任萊恩·伯格表示，在將長和趕出巴拿馬的同時，卻讓中遠海運得以涉足其他港口，對美國而言將是「得不償失的勝利」，因為中遠海運與中國政府和海軍有著密切關係。