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Herald Sun
7 days ago
- Business
- Herald Sun
China's chilling warning for one Aussie city
Don't miss out on the headlines from National. Followed categories will be added to My News. China has again warned Australia against plans to take back its strategic Port of Darwin, threatening the move would result in 'enduring pitfalls for the country.' 'If the Darwin Port issue is further politicised, or forcibly taken back under the pretext of so-called 'national security,' it would become another negative typical case that affects the healthy and stable development of China-Australia relations,' an anonymous editorial in the Chinese Communist Party-controlled Global Times states. The strategic economic and defence facility was leased in 2015 for $506 million to the Australian subsidiary of a privately owned Chinese company, the Landbridge Group. The 99-year deal was cemented by the then Country Liberal Northern Territory Government. The geopolitical fallout was immediate. The White House complained it had not been consulted. After all, its freshly committed US Marine presence in the Northern Territory relied on the port for support. Australia's regional neighbours raised their eyebrows: Hadn't Canberra been pressuring them to reject significant Chinese infrastructure money? Ten years later, both Labor and the Coalition went to the May 2025 Federal Election promising to take back Military facilities across the Top End are being upgraded 'to enhance the ability of the Australian Defence Force to project force,' Brigadier Matthew Quinn said at a sod-turning ceremony earlier this month. The Port of Darwin is owened by a Chinese company. Picture: ASCO 'These critical upgrades follow recent works to enhance the main runway and taxiways, improving the capacity, security and resilience of RAAF Base Darwin.' It was just one $160 million piece of a massive international defence buildup across northern Australia. The cause: China's assertive territorial ambitions. 'Taking back the Port of Darwin from Landbridge Group would also symbolise a dangerous shift from commercial cooperation to military development,' the Global Times warns. 'The move of 'de-Sinicisation' aims to remove obstacles for the US to advance its militarisation in northern Australia.' The lease of Darwin Port to China's Landbridge Group has become a contentious issue. Picture:Strategic and economic security 'It is well known that Darwin Port only became linked to so-called 'national security' and subjected to a wave of political and security scrutiny after so-called 'concerns' were voiced from Washington,' the Global Times editorial insists. All China-based and owned companies must have Communist Party Commissars on their boards. They must also readily hand over any and all information on their customers and deals to any government agency upon demand. US President Barack Obama broke the news of potential problems directly with then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull during an APEC meeting in November 2015. He asked that Washington be given a 'heads-up' over similar deals in future. Obama's cause for concern was obvious. Chairman Xi was, at the time, deeply engaged in building illegal island fortresses on sand banks claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines and Taiwan. His government was vocally asserting ownership over Japan and South Korea's islands in the East China Sea. Threats of invading Taiwan had already become commonplace. Darwin was even then a significant stepping stone for rapidly expanding US and allied military activities in northern Australia. 'As the Indo-Pacific becomes increasingly contested, supply chains become more vulnerable and coercive statecraft becomes more common,' argues Australian Strategic Policy Institute national security analyst John Coyne. 'Darwin's proximity to key maritime routes and regional partners makes it an indispensable asset.' Chinese President Xi Jinping. Picture: Florence Lo-Pool/Getty Images Follow the money The purchase of the Darwin Port was touted as part of Chairman Xi Jinping's grand 'Belt and Road' vision of a Chinese-controlled trade network spanning the Pacific, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe. The natural deep-water harbour is strategically positioned as a hub between the Indian Ocean, the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. And about 4.5 million tonnes of cargo and significant quantities of oil and gas pass over its piers each year. In 2015, the Foreign Investment Review Board headed by then federal treasurer Scott Morrison, decided against examining the proposed deal. The Defence Department, undergoing one of many ministerial transitions, had no objections. And the then minister for trade and investment, Andrew Robb, was ecstatic. '(It is) a powerful sign of the enhanced commercial relationship between Australia and China flowing from the China-Australia free trade agreement,' Robb declared in October 2015. Robb resigned from Parliament four months later and immediately took up a position as 'advisor' to the Landbridge Group. Now, both sides of politics are firmly in agreement: Make Darwin Australian again. During the 2025 election campaign, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised the port would be sold to an Australian operator. This is despite reports US equity firm Cerberus Capital, which has close ties to President Donald Trump's White House administration, is preparing to make a bid. Former opposition leader Peter Dutton went further, promising his Liberal-National Coalition would nationalise the asset under government ownership. But Beijing is biting back. The Global Times warned Tuesday that 'should the Australian government take the drastic step of forcibly taking back Darwin Port', this would 'undoubtedly' produce 'enduring pitfalls for the country'. Russia's President Vladimir Putin greets Chinese President Xi Jinping. Picture: Mikhail METZEL / POOL / AFP Investor returns 'Whether the Port of Darwin becomes a hub of prosperous trade or the eye of a geopolitical storm is not a difficult choice, but it does test Canberra's strategic wisdom,' the Global Times editorial reads. The Communist Party editorial says its 2015 purchase had been 'timely assistance' to the Northern Territory at a time when Canberra 'wasn't interested'. 'From turning the port's operations from loss to profit and helping ease the Northern Territory government's debt crisis, to investing more than $A83 million and upgrading port facilities … and greatly contributing to local economic and social development, Landbridge Group's involvement has brought systematic and positive changes to Darwin Port,' it states. But concern over possible financial difficulties contributed to the port's prominence in the recent Federal Election. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised the port would be sold to an Australian company. Picture: NewsWire / Richard Gosling Landbridge Australia non-executive director Terry O'Connor said this week that the company had 'not yet received any offers or engagement from the (Australian) government at any level.' But he 'welcomed' comments by Beijing's envoy to Australia, Xiao Qian. Xiao issued a statement on Sunday after touring the port's operations. He insisted the lease had been purchased through 'an open and transparent bidding process, fully compliant with Australian laws and market principles'. 'It's very morally inappropriate to rent out the port when it is in the red and take it back once it is profitable,' he argues. Tuesday's Global Times editorial went one step further, warning that placing 'politics over the rule of law' sent a 'dangerous signal to global investors … especially in sectors like infrastructure and energy that require long-term investment'. NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner speaking with Landbridge Group chairman Ye Cheng. Picture: Lauren Roberts 'The operation of Darwin Port is, at its core, a market-driven economic project and should operate within the framework of the rule of law and market principles,' it adds. But the world economic and security order has been upended since 2015, with Chairman Xi securing an unconstitutional third term and US President Trump vigorously pursuing an 'America First' agenda in the opening months of his second term. 'Darwin's development has long been framed as a national opportunity. It is now a strategic obligation,' Coyne argues. 'Australia cannot afford to leave its north underdone or underutilised. 'A sovereign, commercially viable, and strategically aligned marine industry in Darwin is no longer aspirational.' Jamie Seidel is a freelance writer | @ Originally published as 'Enduring pitfalls': China's chilling warning over controversial Darwin Port deal
Voice of America
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Voice of America
Hong Kong Democratic Party's plan to disband marks ‘end of an era'
Hong Kong's largest and oldest opposition party, the Democratic Party, has announced that it will start the process of disbanding, a move that analysts say will mark 'the end of an era' for the city's pro-democracy forces. During a press conference last Thursday, Democratic Party chairperson Lo Kin-hei told journalists that the party, founded in 1994, would set up a three-person task force to 'study' the procedures needed for the party to shut down. 'We considered the overall political environment in Hong Kong and all those future plans that we can foresee, and that is the decision that we make,' he said, adding that party members' votes will determine the final decision for disbandment. Lo did not specify when the vote might take place. Hong Kong's government has yet to comment on the news of the party's possible disbandment and authorities did not respond to inquiries from VOA. In an editorial published Monday, the Chinese Communist Party-controlled media outlet Wen Wei Po said the Democratic Party's planned disbandment was the result of the party's connections to detained media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who is facing several national security charges, and its support of 'violent protesters' during the 2019 pro-democracy protests. The Democratic Party, founded a few years before the end of British colonial rule, played a pivotal role in Hong Kong's transition to Chinese governance, with some of its early leaders, including prominent figures such as Martin Lee and Albert Ho, helping to shape the 'One Country, Two Systems' model, a constitutional arrangement set up to give Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy under Chinese rule. Following Hong Kong's handover to China in 1997, the Democratic Party became the most influential opposition force in the port city's legislative council, leading street protests and advocating for the fulfillment of universal suffrage and direct elections that were embedded in the Basic Law, the city's mini-constitution. But following months-long anti-government protests that sent shockwaves across the city in 2019, Beijing initiated a series of moves to tighten control over Hong Kong, including the imposition of the controversial National Security Law, or NSL, in July 2020 and the overhaul of the city's electoral system that essentially blocks pro-democracy candidates from running in elections. 'Chilling effect' felt in Hong Kong Analysts say the Democratic Party's decision to begin disbandment reflects Hong Kong authorities' intensifying crackdown on pro-democracy organizations, with several opposition political parties, such as the Civic Party, deciding to shut down due to increasing political pressure and restrictions on operating. 'Democratic Party's decision to start preparing for disbandment marks the end of the good old times when there were functioning opposition parties that could maintain a presence in the legislative council, serve constituents, and consult the government on policies,' said Maggie Shum, a political scientist at Penn State University in the U.S. Additionally, she said, the crackdown has affected independent bookstores, independent media, and independent institutions. 'It's like the Hong Kong government is going down a long list of democratic institutions and taking every one of them off the list,' Shum told VOA by phone, adding that the trend has created a 'society-wide chilling effect' in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Journalist Association, or HKJA, the main journalism group in the city, was forced to scrap its annual fundraising dinner this month after two hotels cancelled bookings. The head of HKJA, Selina Cheng, has said the cancellations were likely the result of 'political pressure' the hotels had faced. Local authorities have said nothing about the issue. Additionally, the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute, which tracks public attitudes on a wide range of issues in the city, announced it would suspend all self-funded research and might even 'close down' after its CEO Robert Chung was summoned by national security police for investigations. Some pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong say authorities have shifted the focus of their crackdowns to groups dedicated to issues such as labor rights in recent months. 'The Hong Kong government has proposed legislative amendments that will ban individuals convicted of national security offenses from being part of labor unions while imposing stricter vetting mechanisms on foreign funding,' said Debby Chan, a former pro-democracy district councilor in Hong Kong. Emily Lau, the former chairperson of the Democratic Party, said these trends show Hong Kong's political system is pivoting away from democracy. 'More than a dozen groups have dissolved over the last two to three years and in the current environment, it will be hard for pro-democracy figures or organizations to have the space to operate,' she told VOA by phone, adding that Hong Kong authorities' goal is to 'annihilate' pro-democracy figures' attempts to 'organize.' Beijing: 'National security safeguarded' in Hong Kong In response to inquiries from VOA, the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., said Beijing 'firmly supports' Hong Kong authorities' efforts to 'safeguard national security' and urged 'critics' to 'stop smearing the Chinese central government's policy governing Hong Kong.' 'Hong Kong's economy is booming, and the constitutional order is in stable operation, national security is safeguarded and the 'patriots ruling Hong Kong' is implemented,' Liu Pengyu, the Chinese Embassy spokesperson, told VOA in an email. Shum at Penn State said Hong Kong people may 'get disoriented or forced to withdraw from caring about politics' because authorities are rapidly tightening control over civil society and 'taking away their power to take collective actions.' 'Hong Kong is implementing the Chinese model of governance and using an authoritarian way to control every aspect of life,' she told VOA. Shum said Hong Kong's people could still find symbolic ways to express support for democracy. 'The online censorship in Hong Kong is not as dire as compared to China and there are a lot of exiled media outlets reporting on the situation in Hong Kong, which serve as channels for Hong Kong people to connect with the outside world,' she said, adding that that 'could potentially serve as anchors for people who care about democratic values.'
