Ports, Power, and Patriotism: The Li Ka shing Firestorm

hi I'm d Sean welcome to digging to China where we explore China in depth to reveal unique perspective in the past few days I've been chuckling over some juicy gossip picture this Lee kashing a 97y old business Legend suddenly gets slammed by both Beijing and Hong Kong they are calling him a rotten capitalist why because his company CK Hutcheson sold the rights to run two ports in Panama to an American outfit called Black Rock that's the story The Communist part is spinning to go after him now here is what really happened leashing sold off more than 40 ports his group owned around the world everything except ones in China and Hong Kong for a massive 22.8 billion doar to Black Rock two of those ports were in Panama right by the Panama Canal with the which the current US government has has been saying it wants back in its control so the Communist Party stitched together this tale that LE kashin betrayed China by selling to the Americans but there is a little twist that's got me intrigued his company announced to sale on March 4th yet Beijing and Hong Kong didn't start their full on attack until March 13th wide n day delay my guess is shiin Ping was scratching his head for 9 days figuring out what to do maybe he tried calling nashin to see if he could undo it if that didn't work should he punish him after all that pondering she couldn't let it slide he had to lash out I bet he steaming mad up in baging right now you can see in how the Party media has been acting these last few days bouncing around like a crazy throwing everything they've got at Le kashin even Hong Kong's chief executive John Lee you know the one who's not exactly a scholar kind of like xiin Ping jumped in at a press conference to blast Le Kim that shows you how much heat Beijing is turning up Bloomberg let slip a couple of days ago that the she told China's Market regulators and other agencies to dig into this deal looking at whether selling those Panama ports has any security risk or breaks Monopoly rules sounds like she's itching to hit back Le King so today let's chat about how she might try to get even this whole mess just shows once again how shortsighted she can be let's start with Le kin's decision to sell those ports from a business standpoint it's a solid move the proof his Company's stock price shot up after the sale the market liked it here's some simple math to back it up CK Hutchinson sold 43 ports last year those ports brought in about $3.8 billion in Revenue but the profit was only 5 to 600 million then they sold them for 22.8 billion if you do the number that's over 38 times their yearly earnings normally in the port business You' expect 15 to 25 times earning Le kashin got a great deal a real win plus with all the risks in the port game right now getting out makes sense ports takes a tons of money to run and it takes years to see a return the cash flows steady but it doesn't grow fast and a global chaos like War the US China trade spat or supply chain shifts can really shake up profits what's the world like today the US and China are already in a trade War Trump's team is pushing to unwind globalization the Panama Canal the US has its eye on it and say says it wants control that's a big risk for Lee Kai Shing when Black Rock offered a fat price to take it off his hand that was his golden ticket the US isn't as Rogue as CCP at least they will pay pay you fair and a square if Le kashin had said no the US couldn't found couldn't find other ways to twist his arm he's smart enough to know fighting them wasn't the worth it from where I stand Le kashin did what any sharp businessman would he looked out for his company his investors dodged a bullet and made a profit nothing wrong there but she's reaction it shows his small mindedness again one minute he's hosting a cozy chat with private business owners all friendly and warm then starting March 23rd he's rolling out the red carpet for foreign CEOs at the China development Forum big names like FedEx seamons BMW Mercedes qualcom Nestle McKenzie s SD louder standard chared Dutch bank KPMG that works she's smoing with entrepreneurs and begging foreign companies to invest in China then turns around and a smacks leashing down talk about the shooting himself in the foot in all the years she's been in charge I've never seen the party made Party media go off someone like this even Jack M didn't get this bad since March 13 Hong Kong's Tong has been plasting Le king's name everywhere daily rant on March 16th they churn out the six short pieces in one day using old school M error insult it's like they've memorize the Playbook calling him spineless greedy a traitor to the nation and the Chinese people they say real entrepreneurs love their country but the Le kashin handed the key PS to sneaky Americans helping the bad guys and hurting China and the world history they claim will honor Patriots and a judge sellouts like him when the Party media gets this wild it's a sign she's really rattled but here's what I don't get Lee King's sale wasn't some Hush Hush deal Black Rock made an offer why didn't China's State companies step up with their own Lee kashin just wanted out of the port business and to cut his risks he' to sell to whoever paid the most so why didn't the Communist Party bid on those ports 22.8 billion pocket change for them right why sit it out I've got three theories first maybe she thought he could get it for free he sees le kashin as a Hong Kong guy which to him means a Chinese guy which means he's she's servant in she's mind Le stuff is already his Why Pay just tell him what to do maybe Trump's older gripes about China running the Panama Canal came from nashin helping she out before she's Top Cheap she's too cheap to buy what he thinks he already owns second she's get everything on lock down so his underlings are just coasting no one does anything without his say so they saw leashing selling and a shrug nobody warned the she about the risk by the time he found out the deal was done and he flip out now he's stuck so he's just yelling to feel better third she might have been powerless to stop it Trump wants the Panama Canal Deal or No Deal he's taking it if leashing didn't sell Trump could have gravit it from Panama anyway that's why she took nine days to react he knew he couldn't block the US from getting in the back so why is she acting Furious after nine days trouble at home the Chinese Public's mad this looks like a trump bullying them and they are asking what the CCP is doing about it what's she doing he wanted to ignore it but the Patriotic crowd those feury nationalist stir up a storm online they are calling she weak like the old chin rulers who let foreigners walk all over them that's forced him to fake his outrage she's itching to strike back for sure why else could he have his team poke around for dirt on the deal leashing still got some stuff in China and Hong Kong if she wants to mess with him he could but I've checked what the least got left there and this old Fox saw it coming a mile away Looking Back le kashin never trusted she maybe it's because he met him in the '90s and packed him as a lightweight right off the bat back in January 1993 she was the F Jo's party secretary he visited Hong Kong mat Le kashin and asked him to invest there that August Lee kashin went to Futo she greeted him with flowers Lee put money into a high-rise project but she later killed it they've got some awkward history when she took power least started the selling of manland and Hong Kong properties in 2013 in 2014 he shifted his two big companies registration to the Cayman Island by 2015 he was buying up infrastructure and energy Assets in the UK from day one of she's rule Lee was planning his exit what's left in China and Hong Kong some shares are tucked into Family Trust the rest like a buildings she could grab but it's maybe a few dozen billion box pops Le still got fancy offices and homes in Hong Kong plus some manland real estate he sold a lot lately but some stuff he couldn't unload back in the day he got these manland assets dirt cheap and made a killing flipping land if the CCP takes it all it won't face him he's already counted as gone in Hong Kong he runs big chunks of ports power and utilities they could use the security law to call him a Traer and seiz it but that will sync Hong Kong's free Port status for good if they take Le stuff picture the chaos money and tycoons fleeing Hong Kong left and right why bother keeping it a free Port that ditched Hong Kong dollar make it just another Chinese City she needs private business right now would he risk that I doubt it leashing is not a sweating sheep he's got time to dump more China assets he's planning for worst case stuff like this why else move his companies to the Cayman Island and lock up his shares he's raking it in from Europe now China's just a small slice of his pie in 2015 shinua wrote his first hit piece on Le kashin don't let Le kashin get away 10 years later Beijing and Hong Kong are added again screaming his Pro America even though he's not even Chinese the party says entrepreneurs must love the their country and a sacrifice for it but the country doesn't have to love them back just use them and ditch them ask gik kashin to pick a side us or China he to pick the US America's Shady sure but they will pay for what they take the Communist party they steal it leave you with nothing call you a crook the capitalist lock you up and let the crowd curse your whole family tree Le never been Chinese even Jack M if he could would the bat from China in a beat he's just trapped now look at leang the Deep seek guy Party media is praising him to the stores but can he leave China nope they've got his passport he's stuck there forever that's how the Communist Party really treats private entrepreneurs thank you so much for watching if you find this video helpful please like it drop a comment below and hit the Subscribe button right 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