Panama’s comptroller general has lodged two cases with the country’s supreme court against the owners of two ports at the centre of a geopolitical struggle between the US and China, in a move likely to be seen as a victory for Donald Trump in his attempt to rid the Panama canal of Chinese influence.

The decision follows a failed attempt to sell the ports to a consortium headed by the US investment fund BlackRock and Swiss shipping firm MSC.

The two ports, at each end of the Panama Canal, were originally awarded to the Hong Kong-based firm CK Hutchison in 1997. They entered the geopolitical spotlight on 20 January when Trump