In modern history, the Qing Dynasty was forced to sign hundreds of unequal treaties, which were not only the well-known land reparations, but also the opening of ports and treaty ports.
In 1898, Germany and France even forcibly leased Jiaozhou Bay and Guangzhou Bay for 99 years. With large transportation volume, low cost and convenient accessibility, shipping has always been an important mode of transportation for human beings, especially in the international world.
Therefore, a strategically located international port is of great significance to every country. Recently, there has been a serious dispute between China and Australia over the "port of Darwin".
The dispute arose from Morrison's crossing of the river and demolishing the bridge, unilaterally tearing up the Sino-Australian cooperation agreement and trying to take back the port of Darwin ahead of schedule. How important is the Port of Darwin?
Why did Australia** suddenly break the contract? And at what cost will it pay?
Australia's desire to tear up the port lease of a Chinese company is thought-provoking Text: Recently, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that the Australian Department of Defense is revisiting the 99-year lease agreement of China's Landbridge Group to lease the port of Darwin and considering whether to force the company to give up the lease right.
It is reported that this act was carried out under the direction of Prime Minister Morrison, and the port is one of the largest ports in Australia and is of great strategic significance. Looking back on 2015, China's Shandong Landbridge Group ended with 5$0.6 billion** was granted the right to operate the Port of Darwin for 99 years.
However, just over five years later, Morrison** tried to tear up the contract and take back the Port of Darwin. On the surface, this is an irresponsible hexagram behavior, but in fact, the factors behind it are more complex.
The United States is an important spoiler in this issue. The U.S. has been trying to increase its military presence in Australia, seeing the port of Darwin as an ideal base. Australia's behavior seems to be to cater to the needs of the United States, and at the same time, it also exposes its distrust of Chinese companies.
The Port of Darwin in Australia is strategically located as it connects Asia and the Pacific and is known as the "gateway to Asia". If Australia** forcibly repossesses the Port of Darwin, it will not only affect the investment of Chinese companies in Australia, but may also have an impact on the operation and strategic position of the port.
The incident raises many questions about the relationship between Australia and China. Will Australia become China's international rival? How will the relationship between the two countries develop?
The answers to these questions require our continued attention.
You may have heard that Australia is a loyal little brother of the United States, but few people know that the Port of Darwin is the starting point of the friendship between the United States and Australia. In 1770, the fleet of British navigator James Cook arrived on the east coast of Australia, and Australia became a British colony.
However, for more than 100 years, with the power of Britain and its own geographical advantages, Australia has lived very peacefully. Until the outbreak of World War II, 26 countries, including the United States, China, the Soviet Union, and Australia, signed the "Joint Declaration of the United Nations" in Washington, D.C., and established the Anti-Fascist League.
Because Japan's main target was Southeast Asia, the port of Darwin, known as the "gateway to Asia", naturally became an important strategic base for the anti-fascist alliance.
Soon, 150,000 Allied soldiers were stationed here. However, this was exactly what the Japanese did not want to see, and they wanted to strike at the Allies and gain the initiative in the Southeast Asian theater, so they planned the "air raid on Darwin", the largest external attack in Australia's history.
On February 19, 1942, the Japanese army sent 242 warplanes to carpet bomb the port of Darwin, resulting in the destruction of 700 Allied troops**, 35 ships** and 23 aircraft, and the almost destruction of Allied military bases.
Over the course of a year, Japan carried out about 100 air strikes on Australia, 58 of which were concentrated in the port of Darwin, causing severe damage. Although Australia is vast and sparsely populated, its military strength is only 50,000 people.
During World War II, in the face of frequent Japanese bombing, Australia could only endure and could not fight back. At a time when Australia was in dire need of help, its former ally, Great Britain, was too busy fighting Germany to take care of it.
However, the United States immediately dispatched the Pacific Fleet to support Australia, and even the Allied forces were personally commanded by five-star Admiral MacArthur. The United States not only protected Australia's security during World War II, but also helped it retake New Guinea from the Japanese army.
As a result, Australia has chosen to be the staunchest supporter of the United States. Of course, the United States sent troops to support Australia, mainly out of its own selfishness.
The location of the Port of Darwin is exactly what the United States is looking for.
Obama** presented it in November 2011"Asia-Pacific rebalance"and announced a strategic shift in focus to the Asia-Pacific region. To achieve this, the United States has offered to deploy troops in the port of Darwin to bolster its military presence in the region, especially on the South China Sea.
Australia, as an ally of the United States, naturally did not refuse this proposal. On April 3 of the following year, the first group of U.S. Marines arrived at Robertson Military Base in Darwin Harbor.
On August 12, 2014, the United States and Australia formally signed a 25-year military deployment agreement, transforming the Port of Darwin into a permanent military base.
At that time, Li Jie, an expert at the Chinese Navy's Military Academic Research Institute, expressed high concern that it could become an encirclement of China's South China Sea issue and a blockade of important passes such as the Strait of Malacca.
Therefore, some experts and netizens believe that the main reason for Australia's current Morrison ** forcibly interrupting the cooperation between China and Australia at the Darwin Port may be related to the pressure of the United States and the military deployment of the United States and Australia.
So why did Australia** lease the port to a Chinese company in 2015 when the port of Darwin was so important? The answer is only one word: money.
Darwin is the only city in Australia to have been hit by war, and was bombed in World War II. In 1974, a Tryth typhoon destroyed 70% of the city's buildings.
It can be said that the city has had many ill-fated and troubled disasters. Although the city of Darwin is the capital of Australia's Northern Territory, the region is special in Australia. On the one hand, the Northern Territory has a chronically negative population growth, a labour force shortage, and is often at the bottom of the list.
On the other hand, the Northern Territory is the only area in Australia that is self-managed by Aboriginal people, and it is not highly valued by the Commonwealth**. As a result, the city of Darwin has not been able to fully recover, despite several basic redevelopment attempts.
The Northern Territory** understands that port development is key to driving the local economy, so it has been asking the Commonwealth for support for the complete upgrading of the Port of Darwin for the past 30 years, but unfortunately these requests have been repeatedly refused.
In this case, Australia** has chosen to seek economic development opportunities by leasing ports to Chinese companies, which is why they have shown remorse on this issue.
With no way out, the Northern Territory** finally chose to attract foreign investment. In 2015, they announced to the world that they would lease the Port of Darwin. This news immediately attracted the attention of many Chinese companies.
You know, since 2009, China has been Australia's largest partner, largest exporter and largest importer, and has maintained this position for 11 consecutive years.
In 2019, the total bilateral ** between China and Australia reached a record A$235 billion, accounting for a quarter of Australia's total for the year. As Australia's main export port for ores and agricultural products, the Port of Darwin is valuable to Chinese companies looking to enter the Australian market.
With its strong strength and rich experience, Landbridge Group successfully defeated other competitors in the bidding on October 13, 2015 and reached a cooperation agreement with the Northern Territory of Australia**.
Landbridge Group started with 5$0.6 billion was granted the right to operate the land in the Port of Darwin and the ancillary terminals such as the East Arm Harbour for 99 years. As soon as Landbridge moved into the Port of Darwin, it invested $15 million to upgrade the port facilities and build a refrigerated storage facility that benefited the surrounding community.
Not only that, Landbridge Group has also publicly announced that it will invest $200 million in the Port of Darwin over the next 25 years to build an advanced commercial network to promote the export of oil, gas, minerals and live animals from the Northern Territory, while helping Darwin to bring in more ** partners.
Over the past few years, Australia** has been looking forward to working with China, even praising the positive impact it will have on the Northern Territory and Australia as a whole.
However, in less than six years, Australia** has taken a 180-degree turn in its attitude, demanding that Landbridge give up the lease of the Port of Darwin, claiming that the cooperation is not in Australia's interest.
Behind this abrupt shift is clearly the influence of US intervention and the highly advanced position of the current Morrison. A few days before Morrison "tore up" the Darwin cooperation agreement, he publicly announced that he would upgrade military bases and conduct joint military exercises with China.
Considering Morrison**'s recent remarks about sending troops to intervene in the Taiwan Strait, all this seems very clear. Faced with the choice of economic development and military power, Morrison** chose the latter.
Therefore, he will try to forcibly reclaim the important military base of Darwin Harbor, which may win the favor of the United States, but the possible adverse consequences cannot be ignored.
When Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison was pushing hard for the Darwin Port cooperation project, he probably did not expect that such a move would have disastrous consequences for the Australian economy.
In Australia's economic relationship with China, the fact that the 99-year lease agreement between the Northern Territory** and Landbridge Group provides for hefty liquidated damages puts Australia** under significant financial pressure in the face of any possible default.
If Morrison does force a unilateral break of the treaty, it will undoubtedly seriously damage Australia's international image, especially in attracting overseas investment. Morrison**'s malicious provocation has completely angered China, and China has announced an indefinite suspension of all activities under the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue mechanism.
At a time when Australia's national economy is facing serious difficulties, Morrison's behavior is undoubtedly worse. With the large-scale shutdown of China-Australia economic cooperation, Australia's economic contraction will further expand, and a series of economic problems such as the depreciation of the Australian dollar, inflation, soaring prices, and increasing unemployment will follow.
This series of consequences can only make Morrison** suffer the consequences.