"Landbridge Group, owned by Chinese billionaire Ye Cheng, has controlled Port Darwin, located in Australia's remote Northern Territory, since 2015 under a 99-year lease agreement. Australian authorities reached the $350m lease deal with Shandong province-based Landbridge in the hope the port's expansion would revitalise the economy of the largely rural territory. But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pledged to return the port to Australian control during campaigning ahead of national elections in May last year, saying the facility should be run by a local company or the government."
"In his annual briefing to local media, Xiao said, When you're losing money, you want to lease it to a foreign company, and when it's making money, you want to take it back? The ambassador said Beijing would take measures to defend Landbridge's interests if the Australian government tried to forcibly alter the lease agreement. We will see when it's time for us to say something, do something, to reflect the Chinese government's position and protect our Chinese companies' legitimate interests, he said, without elaborating."
Landbridge Group, owned by Chinese billionaire Ye Cheng, holds a 99-year lease on Port Darwin secured in 2015 for $350m to boost the Northern Territory economy. China's ambassador Xiao Qian condemned Australian moves to reclaim the port as unethical and warned Beijing would take measures to defend Landbridge's interests if the lease were forcibly altered. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has pledged to return the facility to Australian control, calling it in the national interest. Multiple government reviews, including one commissioned by Albanese, found no grounds to cancel or alter the lease despite security concerns and controversy.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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