17-06-2025
Not All Ports Are a National Security Threat
Australia's northernmost maritime gateway has become a lightning rod for the fragile relationship between the US and China — but while national security concerns are warranted for many of the ports that Beijing controls or owns, this is hardly the one to worry about.
President Donald Trump's trade war has meant that almost everything to do with China is now viewed through the lens of geopolitics. In 2015, the privately held Shandong-based Landbridge Group — a Chinese logistics, infrastructure, and petrochemical firm — secured a 99-year lease for the strategically significant Port of Darwin, located just off the coast of the Indonesian border and near military bases that routinely host rotations of US Marines in Australia.
