China-Australia relations: Landbridge vows to protect ‘legally binding’ Darwin Port deal if political pressure persists

China’s Landbridge Group says Australia is sending the message that it does not want foreign investment, by threatening to tear up Darwin Port lease

Australian politicians’ opposition to Landbridge’s 99-year lease grew out of Washington’s concerns over not being consulted before the deal was signed in 2015

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China’s Landbridge Group has made its first public comments since calls in Australia to axe the company’s lease of Darwin Port (pictured) on national security grounds. Photo: Handout

Published: 4:30am, 27 May 2021Updated: 5:27am, 27 May 2021

China’s Landbridge Group will carry on with its investment in Australia’s Darwin Port but will consider legal advice to protect its commercial interests if further political threats to “tear up” the deal negatively affect its business.

In its first public comments since calls to axe the company’s 99-year lease of the port, Landbridge said at a press conference in Hong Kong on Wednesday that the port’s expansion had progressed in line with the contract struck in 2015, and that recent political comments made by Australian government officials had hurt its dealings with business partners.

Earlier this month, Minister for Defence Peter Dutton said the Australian government was looking into whether Landbridge should relinquish its lease under a set of strict laws on foreign investment in infrastructure, passed in 2018. In March, an Australian parliamentary inquiry called for the government to consider revoking the lease on national security grounds.

“These political comments caused some problems for our business. We promote the use of Darwin Port to increase exports out of Australia, and for more business and trade with China and Southeast Asia,” Landbridge Infrastructure Holdings CEO Vincent Lai said.

“We have many trade partners and now, when we hold discussions with them, we field repeated questions on the status and the stability of our operations. So, yes, it affects our business.”

Landbridge also issued a statement saying the political comments by Dutton and other Australian politicians had not only hurt its business activities, they had also tarnished its international standing and reputation.