The Panamanian government has asked Chinese shipping giant Cosco to reconsider its decision to suspend operations at the Balboa port amid geopolitical tensions surrounding the strategic gateway and Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison Holdings.

Panama’s Minister for Canal Affairs Jose Ramon Icaza told reporters on Friday that Cosco’s decision had caught the government off guard.

“The Cosco issue has actually taken us a bit by surprise. All cargo is important, and certainly, Cosco cargo is important for us, for Panama, and we hope they reconsider, obviously, that decision to stop using the Port of Balboa,” he told the media.

The state-owned Cosco, which owns one of the world’s largest tanker fleets, published a notice in a local newspaper last week notifying its clients about the suspension without revealing the reasons.

The Balboa port is a critical terminal at the entrance of the Panama Canal, through which 10 million containers passed last year.

Icaza said the Port of Balboa mainly handled cargo from various shipping lines.