Hutchinson-Whampoa has been controlled by Red China since the late 1970s. From Time magazine, The Other Handover:
But by 1979 he [Li Ka-shing] was straining to break out of the confines of being a mere property developer. He quietly invested some money he made from the stock market in Hutch before acquiring the Bank's stake. The Bank was looking for more than just commercial acumen; it wanted connections to the political masters in Beijing who were dismantling the horrors of the Cultural Revolution and pursuing an open-door economic policy that would eventually give foreign companies access to China's vast market. Michael Sandberg, the Bank's then chairman, decided that the best way was to form a close association with someone like Li who could help the Bank get back into China.The Bank's faith in Li's guanxi, or connections, was vindicated with extraordinary speed. A month after selling its stake in Hutch, Li was named one of three Hong Kong directors to China International Trust and Investment Corp., the company that was designated to spearhead China's open-door policy by aggressively creating a capitalist business model for others to follow.
No obscure Hong Kong flower salesman just happens to be put on the board of the Chinese Communist Party's flagship NEP enterprise, CITIC.
Looks to me like a good capitalist company from China. You advocate private ownership of ports and they like to own and manage them. Would you feel the same if it was a private corporation from Brazil or Korea?
Do you believe in free trade between China and America?