A subsidiary of a Hong Kong-based company that has lost control of two critical ports on the Panama Canal said it is seeking USD 2 billion of compensation in damages from Panama over its "illegal" takeover of the ports. Panama Ports Company, a unit of Hong Kong's CK Hutchison Holdings, said in a Friday statement that it is demanding the sum under international arbitration proceedings that it had already started. Panama's government last week seized control of the Balboa and Cristobal ports on each end of the Panama Canal, a crucial waterway for maritime trade, after the country's Supreme Court declared earlier that a concession allowing the Panama Ports Company to run the pair of ports was unconstitutional. Panama Ports Company has operated the two ports since 1997 and renewed its concession in 2021 for another 25 years. Beijing and Hong Kong's governments had also hit back at Panama over the seizure of the two ports. The two ports came into the spotlight after US President Donald