AFP, SYDNEY
Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles yesterday said that Canberra was “disappointed” the Chinese leaseholder of the strategic Port of Darwin was challenging efforts to return it to local ownership.Private Chinese company Landbridge acquired a 99-year lease to the Port of Darwin in 2015, prompting criticism of Australia from then-US president Barack Obama.Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last year pledged to return the northern port — which sits across the harbor from a military base hosting 2,000 US marines annually and tarmacs upgraded for US bomber aircraft — to Australian ownership.
Supply vessels for offshore gas rigs are docked at the Port of Darwin in northern Australia on April 21, 2017.
Landbridge’s billionaire owner Ye Cheng (葉成) last month lodged a complaint with the World Bank’s tribunal for investment disputes, alleging that Australia’s push for the company to sell the port had breached its free-trade agreement with China and was taking a discriminatory approach.“We’re committed to putting the Port of Darwin back into Australian hands,” Marles told reporters on a visit to Darwin.
“We’re disappointed about the steps that have been taken to put this toward the place of an international tribunal. Obviously, we will do everything in our power to defend that matter,” he said.Marles added that the US military was committed to “doing more from Darwin.”Darwin is Australia’s closest port to Asia, and cargo shipments of commodities including iron ore and liquefied natural gas to China have dominated trade ties.In January, Chinese Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian (肖千) said that if Landbridge were forced to leave the port it could affect wider trade and investment between China and Australia.
