I. Introduction

Against the backdrop of the return of geopolitics, ocean ports have become a focal point in global supply chain competition. The March 2025 G7 statement and BlackRock consortium's acquisition of CK Hutchison port assets mark the evolution of ports from public infrastructure to critical strategic assets. The study argues that the United States and Western countries generate the strategic asset logic of ocean ports through stages including strategic asset identification and narrative, policy guidance and resource alignment, power projection and capital control, and strategic asset upgrading and radiation, aiming to hedge against China's overseas investments. The author proposes that China should remain vigilant against Western strategic asset narratives, protect overseas interests, and cooperate with Global South countries to maintain supply chain stability.

II. Intrinsic Attributes of Ocean Ports and Their Characteristics as Strategic Assets

This section examines the intrinsic attributes of ocean ports and their characteristics as strategic assets. Ocean ports possess three attributes: transportation, economic, and power, with the power attribute significantly increasing in value amid the return of geopolitics. Academic understanding of ports' power attribute has evolved from instrumentalism, functionalism to carrier theory, based on which the United States and Western countries regard ocean ports as "geopolitical assets." Strategic assets refer to resources and capabilities that states use to gain competitive advantages and impose structural constraints on rivals in specific international environments. Their generation is influenced by both international environmental characteristics and state-enterprise strategies, and must satisfy four criteria: "valuable," "rare," "inimitable," and "irreplaceable." As strategic assets, ocean ports derive their value from ensuring energy and commodity flows and controlling logistics information technology; their rarity stems from artificial scarcity created by the United States and Western countries through property rights control and security reviews; their inimitability comes from accumulated construction and operation experience and exclusive allied cooperation; and their irreplaceability depends on superior locational conditions' critical impact on global supply chains.

III. The Strategic Asset Logic of Ocean Ports and Its Generation Mechanism

This section examines the process and generation mechanism through which the United States and Western countries and their transnational corporations construct ocean ports as strategic assets against the backdrop of the return of geopolitics. The strategic asset logic of ocean ports encompasses discursive narratives, policy interactions, and institutional arrangements formed by relevant actors around ports, achieving the goals of containing competitors and projecting overseas power by enhancing the relative value of ports' power attribute.

Specific manifestations of this logic include: first, ocean ports become strategic objectives for the United States and Western countries, with threat perceptions driving them to incorporate control of key ports into national security and geopolitical strategy when facing unstable geopolitical environments; second, ocean ports become important tools for containing competitors, as the United States and Western countries may impose restrictions on competitors in foreign investment reviews and rule-based access after gaining control of key ports; third, the United States and Western countries and transnational corporations jointly participate in port competition, with national strategic concerns and corporate market interests converging, cooperating to build barriers and shape ports' "inimitable" and "irreplaceable" characteristics; fourth, the alienation of ports' transportation and economic attributes by their power attribute, manifested as policy ambiguity and the subordination of transportation and economic attributes to power attributes.

The generation mechanism of this logic comprises four stages: the strategic asset identification and narrative stage, where the United States and Western countries identify ports as strategic assets through discursive narratives and transnational corporations guide states through lobbying; the policy guidance and resource alignment stage, where states issue policies to guide corporate behavior and transnational corporations utilize policy incentives to engage in port competition; the power projection and capital control stage, where the United States and Western countries use transnational corporations' actual control over ports for power projection and formulate exclusive operational rules; and the strategic asset upgrading and radiation stage, where the United States and Western countries further enhance the strategic value of key ports and transnational corporations promote the international expansion of port assets to prevent competitors from acquiring key ports.

IV. Case Analysis of the Generation of Ocean Ports' Strategic Asset Logic

Through the cases of Japan's participation in developing Cambodia's Sihanoukville Port and BlackRock's proposed acquisition of CK Hutchison port assets, this section systematically demonstrates the specific mechanisms and stage-specific characteristics of how the United States and Western countries and their transnational corporations construct the strategic asset logic of ocean ports. In the Japanese case, this logic underwent a complete four-stage evolution: the Japanese government early identified the "valuable" and "rare" characteristics of Sihanoukville Port, guiding corporate investment through official development assistance; issuing strategic documents such as the Basic Plan on Ocean Policy and utilizing JICA to provide financial facilitation, achieving policy guidance and resource alignment; expanding military presence through naval vessel port calls and coordinating multiple corporate entries to form capital control, shaping "inimitable" characteristics; and finally promoting port upgrading through sustained investment and assistance, strengthening its regional "irreplaceable" status. In the American case, the Trump administration identified the strategic value of Panama Canal ports through securitization narrative, with BlackRock Group adjusting corporate strategy accordingly; executive orders and tariff policies were nested to enhance ports' strategic value, with government lobbying and policy support facilitating transaction advancement; U.S. military base deployment plans and presidential statements indicate this case is transitioning toward the power projection stage. The section further analyzes the negative impacts of this logic: weakening the public goods attribute of ocean ports and disrupting global supply chain stability; engaging in competition with China to contain the development of Chinese ports and shipping industries; forcing Global South countries to "choose sides," undermining their development autonomy. It also notes that the United States and Western countries face fiscal, political, and alliance system pressures in practice, and transnational corporations' multi-country embeddedness makes it difficult to fully accommodate geopolitical strategies; in the long term, this logic will severely weaken infrastructure connectivity and globalized open cooperation.

V. Conclusion

The return of geopolitics has made ocean ports strategic assets with value, scarcity, inimitability, and irreplaceability. The United States and Western countries and their transnational corporations generate this logic through stages including identification and narrative, policy alignment, power projection, and capital control, producing negative impacts on the international community and Global South countries. China should strengthen narratives of ports as public goods, deepen port cooperation with Global South countries, and incorporate transnational corporations into area studies to address risks.