Mysterious Chinese billion-dollar proposed deal in Nauru sparks concern in Canberra

Australia Broadcast Center

2 days ago

Australia has pressed Nauru for more detail about a claimed billion-dollar investment agreement that it has signed with a mysterious Chinese company, as federal government officials scramble to ensure the Pacific nation is not breaching a landmark treaty it signed with Australia just nine months ago.
Last week, Nauru's government announced that its foreign minister, Lionel Aingimea, had signed a "phase 1 investment project proposal … valued at approximately AU$1 billion" with a Chinese company called the "China Rural Revitalisation and Development Corporation (CRRDC)".
But the ABC has not been able to track down any information about the company, and Pacific analysts say that scale of investment doesn't seem plausible for Nauru, which has a population of just 12,000.
Late last year, Australia signed a sweeping new treaty with Nauru, promising to provide ongoing budget and security support in return for effective veto power of decisions on national security.
The pacific minister, Pat Conroy, said that Australian officials were checking that Nauru wasn't contemplating any investments which might breach the agreement.
"That is a really important treaty for us that helps position us as the security partner of choice of Nauru."
Article 5 of the treaty says Australia needs to "mutually agree" with any security arrangements Nauru makes, including on maritime security, defence, policing, border protection, cyber security, and some critical infrastructure.
In its statement, Nauru said that the Phase 1 proposal would focus on "developing key sectors in Nauru", including "renewable energy, the phosphate industry, marine fisheries and sea infrastructure, water resource and environmental system, modern agriculture systems, eco-tourism, green transport system, health and cultural exchange platforms".
It also said a "scoping team" from the company would come to Nauru in October to develop a "road up" for the investments.
But Nauru's government hasn't provided any information beyond that statement.
The ABC contacted Nauru on Tuesday to seek a response to Mr Conroy's comments, but it didn't immediately reply.
The assistant minister for the Pacific, Nita Green, travelled to Nauru this week to open a Commonwealth Bank branch — delivering on an Australian government commitment under the treaty to ensure the Pacific nation wasn't left without a bank in the wake of Bendigo's withdrawal.
But it is not clear if she raised the proposed investment in her meeting with Mr Aingimea and Nauru's president, David Adeang.
One Australian government source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said there were "zero detail" available on the proposed deal, and they doubted it would ever transpire.
Graeme Smith from the Australian National University also told the ABC that the proposal was "highly unlikely" to bring in a billion dollars to Nauru because its economy simply wasn't large enough to sustain such an investment.
"I would put it up there with Manly winning the premiership this year."
Dr Smith said it was possible that the announcement was "theatre" intended to impress voters ahead of a parliamentary election due next month.
He said while the company's name echoed an important slogan within China, there "appears to be no record whatsoever of this company" anywhere in public documents.
The ABC has also been unable to find any public statement from the CRRDC, or any definitive proof that the company exists.
A search for the company's name — China Rural Revitalisation Development Corporation — on China's top commercial inquiry platform, Tianyancha, returned zero results.
The company also doesn't seem to exist in other parts of the internet, with no website or any social media accounts immediately identifiable.
There are a few companies with very similar names to China Rural Revitalisation and Development Corporation, including the China Rural Revitalisation Development Group Limited, and China Rural Revitalisation Development Centre.
The former, China Rural Revitalisation Development Group Limited, was a private company opened in Hong Kong this February by a mainland Chinese national, Ling Rui.
Hong Kong Business registration documents show that the ownership was transferred to another Chinese national, Wan Pengcheng, two months later after its establishment.
The latter is a major domestic entity under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, mainly dealing with domestic developments in rural China.
But the ABC has not been able to verify whether any of these companies are connected at all.
Mr Conroy stressed on Tuesday afternoon that Australia wasn't opposed to foreign countries, including China, investing in Pacific.
"We call on every country in the world to be an economic partner and development partner in the Pacific, we think other countries should be doing their fair share and investing in the Pacific," he said.
"But what we've been very clear (on), is that every country in the world should respect the views of the Pacific Islands Forum, the leaders consensus, which is that security should be provided by countries within the PIF."
The ABC has asked the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) for more details about the representations it has made to Nauru, or whether it has gleaned more information about the proposal, but it has yet to responded.