Tasmanian mine a ‘Chinese invasion’, say anti-CCP campaigners

Campaigners against the Chinese Communist Party have joined the fight against a Chinese-owned mining operation in Tasmania’s west.

Anti-CCP campaigners Max Mok, left, Kyinzom Dhongdue and Drew Pavlou on the mining lease in Tasmania’s west.

Campaigners opposed to the ­Chinese Communist Party have joined the fight against a Chinese-owned mining operation in Tasmania’s west, claiming it is part of a pattern of “destructive” Beijing-backed operations globally.

The activists – running for the Senate on a platform pushing a tougher line against CCP human rights abuses and economic coercion – visited a protest camp near Rosebery on Thursday.

Led by the Bob Brown Foundation, the protesters are trying to halt plans by MMG – 67.8 per cent owned by Beijing’s China Minmetals – to build a 140-hectare tailings dam, requiring clearing of up to 285ha, including rainforest.

Tibetan rights campaigner and NSW Senate candidate Kyinzom Dhongdue likened the controversial project to CCP-backed mining ventures that had caused misery and destruction in Tibet and elsewhere.

“To see how the Chinese government is coming here to mine the Tasmanian wilderness is absolutely heartbreaking,” Ms Dhongdue told The Australian.

“I’m coming here with a warning to the people of Tasmania that we need to stop this, to get the Chinese mining company out of the Tarkine (region of western Tasmania).

“This is the CCP’s infiltration of our forests. China has infiltrated into our politics, our universities, even our sports. I call this a Chinese invasion of our forests.”

MMG rejected the criticism. “MMG Rosebery is managed by a local management team and over 98 per cent of our employees are Tasmanian, with a significant number living on the west coast,” a company spokeswoman said.

“The company’s ownership has no bearing on its responsibility to operate in accordance with Australian regulations and laws.

“MMG’s environmental record is sound and we take our social and environmental re­spon­sibilities very seriously. Negative connotations on MMG’s ownership are irrelevant, offensive and xenophobic.”

But Ms Dhongdue insisted MMG’s ownership was an issue. “This is not a Chinese private company; this is a Chinese government-owned mining enterprise,” she said. “The Tarkine has natural, spiritual and cultural heritage and China, being a signatory to the UN World Heritage Convention, should respect this. This is a very destructive project. It is environmental vandalism.”

She was joined by Hong Kong-Australian pro-democracy activist Max Mok and human rights activist Drew Pavlou, both of whom are running with her as federal election candidates for the Democratic Alliance Party.

Ms Dhongdue said the party aimed to raise awareness of CCP infiltration and coercion and push for a reduction of Australia’s economic reliance on China.

In Tibet, the Chinese occupiers had forced nomads from their traditional lands to facilitate mining, she said.