By Kirsty Needham
(Reuters) -China’s ambassador to Canberra has criticised the Australian government’s intention to return Darwin Port to local ownership, saying the Chinese company running the strategically located northern port should not be punished.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in April during the election campaign that his government was working on a plan to force the sale of Darwin Port from its Chinese owner on national interest grounds.
Australia sold the commercial port on a 99-year lease to Chinese company Landbridge in 2015, a move that was criticised by the U.S. president at the time, Barack Obama. Around 2,000 U.S. Marines exercise for six months of the year in the northern city.
Ambassador Xiao Qian said Landbridge Group had invested in the port and contributed to the local economy, according to a statement on Sunday by the Chinese embassy.
“Such an enterprise and project deserves encouragement, not punishment. It is ethically questionable to lease the port when it was unprofitable and then seek to reclaim it once it becomes profitable,” the statement said.
An Australian government spokesperson said the port was not only vital to the region’s economic success, but “also a critical infrastructure asset of national importance”.
“The Australian government is working closely with the Northern Territory Government on next steps,” the spokesperson said in a statement on Monday.
Albanese said in an Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio interview in April that his government wants the port to “be in Australian hands”, and would directly intervene and buy the port if it was unable to find a private buyer.
Australia is building up its northern military bases, which will host U.S. bombers and fighter jets on a rotational basis, as it increases defence cooperation with the United States.
The awarding of the contract to Landbridge by the Northern Territory government came just a few years after the United States posted the first of a rotating group of U.S. Marines in Darwin.
Landbridge said last month the port was not for sale, and in a statement on Monday said it had “not yet received any engagement from the government at any level”.
“It is business as usual at Darwin Port, as we continue to focus on the growth of our operations,” Terry O’Connor, Landbridge Australia’s non executive director, said in a statement.
Landbridge welcomed the Chinese ambassador’s comments, which came after Xiao toured the port in Darwin last week, he added.
(Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney; Editing by Nia Williams and Michael Perry)
