Top End deals with China outpacing others

The Northern Territory has almost 10 times more agreements with China than it does with the US and Japan combined.

The Territory president of the Aust­ralia China Business Council, Daryl Guppy, believes the Territ­ory government is already co-­operating with China’s strategic Belt and Road Initiative unofficially.

The Northern Territory has ­almost 10 times more agreements with China than it does with the US and Japan combined, excluding those related to defence and the Ichthys liquefied natural gas project.

The jurisdiction closest to Chin­ese President Xi Jinping’s Maritime Silk Road has at least 38 Chinese deals, to do with everything from economic development to education, compared with just three with Japan and one with the US.

The Territory president of the Aust­ralia China Business Council, Daryl Guppy, believes the Territ­ory government is already co-­operating with China’s strategic Belt and Road Initiative unofficially. “Territory investment proposals are being formed in a BRI context,” Mr Guppy said.

“If you want to attract Chinese capital investment, then if you form those investment proposals in a way that’s compatible with the BRI, the approval processes will be fast-tracked on the Chinese side.”

The Territory’s Chief Minister, ­Michael Gunner, denied favouring Chinese money and denied being invited to consider signing a formal BRI memorandum of understanding (similar to the one the Andrews government struck in Victoria) when Darwin hosted a BRI conference in July.

“All countries are treated equally, and the Territory pack­ages investment opportunities with a range of partners in mind,” Mr Gunner said. “We have a good relationship with China. We call it Developing the North, they call it One Belt, One Road.”

Australian Strategic Policy Instit­ute director Peter Jennings warned the Territory against naive­ty towards Chinese investment, saying “no deal with China is innocuous”.

“Savvy governments realise that China’s sole focus is to benefit itself, build relationships of dependence on the part of suppliers and then use political and strategic influ­ence to shape the behaviour of client states,” Mr Jennings said.

“OBOR is not benevolent assista­nce aimed at developing the NT … China is targeting the states and territories to sign up to OBOR because the federal government won’t. This amounts to unacceptable political interference by the Chinese Communist Party in Aust­ralia’s domestic affairs.”

Darwin Mayor Kon Vatskalis was forced last week to defend a deal with a district of the Chinese city of Guangzhou after The Aust­ralian reported it was being cast in China as part of Mr Xi’s signature BRI strategy.

A City of Darwin spokes­woman confirmed other councillors were not told in advance that Mr Vatskalis planned to sign an agreement with Yuexiu district, nor given an opportunity to review the draft text. “It is a non-binding letter of intent and a customary gesture when in China,” the spokeswoman said. “This does not require a resolution of council.”

Charles Darwin University Chinese law expert John Garrick said signing the letter gave China a public relations victory and region­al governments were ill-equipped for freelance diplomacy driven by short-term, monetary goals. The letter was signed by Mr Vatskalis and the council’s chief executive, Scott Waters. Mr Waters­, appointed earlier this year, previously worked at the Whitsunday Regional Council with a woman called Cherry Cai.

Media reports in 2015 linked Ms Cai to an alleged scandal involvin­g then Whitsunday mayor Jennifer Whitney and a Chinese developer, which was referred to Queensland’s Crime and Corruption Commission. The City of ­Darwin spokeswoman said Ms Cai participated in Mr Vatskalis’s trip as a paid translator.

The Australian is not suggesting Ms Cai has done anything wrong.

Mr Guppy cited the Darwin Port lease and the Donghai Airlines route between Darwin and Shenzhen as examples of Territory governments co-operating with the BRI. “The Donghai expansion is compatible with BRI objectives,” he said. “You simply get involved in it (the BRI) by not rejecting it … the port lease was deliberately designe­d to be attractive to ­Chinese investors, as well as US and European ones.”

Mr Guppy said part of the “under­pinning” of the BRI was the expansion of tourism and cultural exchanges.