Panama's Supreme Court has annulled contracts allowing a Hong Kong-based company to operate container ports on the Panama Canal.
The ruling comes a year after US President Donald Trump claimed China was "operating the Panama Canal" - the main shipping link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans - in his inaugural speech.
CK Hutchison Holding, through subsidiary Panama Ports Company (PPC), has operated two of the five ports since the 1990s. It had previously agreed to sell them to a group led by a US investment firm under a wider deal.
The court found that laws allowing the firm to operate the ports were "unconstitutional", but PPC said the ruling "lacks legal basis".
Trump has made repeated claims that the central American canal is under Chinese control.
