Australia has revised China’s ownership of the port of Darwin in the face of security risks

The Australian Department of Defense is considering leaving a controversial lease to a Chinese company in the port of Darwin near a U.S. Navy base.

Washington has long been concerned 99-year lease, The Northern Territory government sold it to Landbridge in Shandong for $ 506 million in 2015.

After the news of the review severely damaged Australia-China ties, this pushed Canberra rip last week two Ring and Road Initiative agreements between the Chinese and Victorian state governments.

Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton confirmed the rent review in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald on Monday, saying he had asked his department to “come back to give some advice” to ensure the government could “explore options in our country”. interests ”.

New legislation has given Canberra a “final appeal” to retrospective actions to force companies to expropriate assets when national security risks arise.

Experts said any move against a Chinese private company would be debatable, as Beijing could seek revenge against Australian companies. The previous advice from the Australian defense department would also be suspended so that the port agreement does not pose a security threat.

“Australian defense and security agencies unanimously said in 2015 that the agreement posed no national security risk,” James Laurenceson said at Sydney University of Technology.

He said the assessment had not changed in 2018, according to comments made by then-Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop. Despite public turmoil in Chinese hawks in recent months, the government has not received any advice about potential safety risks, Laurenceson added.

Last week, Dutton warned that Taiwan’s conflict with China “should not be lowered,” and warned Beijing to stop interfering in its internal affairs.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said that if he receives advice suggesting that there are risks, then the government will take action.

When Landbridge bought the lease, the company’s founder Ye Cheng suggested that the port would be part of Beijing’s BRI plan, the backbone of President Xi Jinping’s foreign policy.

Australian Vice President Mike Hughes Landbridge told the Financial Times that the company was aware of the review and was willing to participate.

The deal was initially made without much scrutiny in Canberra, which recently signed a free trade agreement with Beijing. But tensions between the US and China over the aggressive expansion of the South China Sea led to Barack Obama’s rise in power worries directly with Malcolm Turnbull, then Prime Minister, for failing to consult on the deal.

Since then, Canberra has banned the Huawei 5G network, tightened foreign investment rules and blocked the sale of various assets to Chinese bidders. Beijing has accused Canberra of misappropriating its interests and suppressing trade sanctions on the sale of Australian goods.

Peter Jennings, Director of the Australian Institute for Strategic Policy campaign Opposing Landbridge’s acceptance of maintaining the lease, he said there have been changes in strategic situations since 2015.

“China is now pursuing a policy of coercion to ensure that states have ways to adapt to Beijing. The obvious question to ask is: how comfortable can we be when key companies in Australia have critical infrastructure elements?”

Jennings said the government should look into the ownership of other important assets in China or Hong Kong, including New South Wales’s electricity networks and port infrastructure, and Western Australia’s gas pipelines.