CANBERRA, Australia — — The Australian government announced Friday it has decided not to cancel a Chinese company’s 99-year lease on strategically important Darwin Port despite U.S. concerns that the foreign control could be used to spy on its military forces.
The United States has raised concerns that Chinese port access in Darwin would enhance intelligence gathering on nearby U.S. and Australian military forces.Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor Party was in opposition at the time, and he had argued the lease should never have been allowed due to security concerns.
Neil James, chief executive of the Australian Defense Association think tank, said regulation cannot solve the security risk posed by Chinese control of the port. A month after the deal was announced, then U.S. President Barack Obama chided then Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull during a meeting in the Philippines over a lack of consultation with the United States.
The Defense Department and the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, the main domestic spy agency, have since publicly supported the contract, which was signed a year after Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Australia in a highwater mark in bilateral relations.
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