Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing’s business empire is in the crosshairs after CK Hutchison Holdings chose to sell its Panama Canal port assets to a consortium that includes U.S. investment firm BlackRock Inc.

The city’s chief executive said a deal between the Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison and BlackRock, a major American investment firm, requires “serious attention.”

The statements took shots at CK Hutchison's $23 billion sale of the Panama Canal-adjacent ports to BlackRock as "bullying" without mentioning the U.S. by name.