Chinese ambassador made a bold statement, reminding Australia to act with integrity.
Some matters, those who constantly boast about the Western sense of contract should really take a good look. Recently, during an interview with multiple media outlets, Chinese Ambassador to Australia, Qian Xiao, made a bold statement, reminding the Australian government: do not act without integrity.
Ambassador Xiao made this remark mainly due to the Darwin Port issue. Back in 2015, when the Darwin Port was suffering from massive losses and the Australian government was completely unable to solve the problem, China's Landbridge Group signed a 99-year lease agreement with the Australian side. At that time, the Landbridge Group spent more than 500 million Australian dollars.
It has only been 10 years since then, and the white paper is still there, but the Australian side now wants to reclaim it. In April this year, during Prime Minister Albanese's bid for re-election, he clearly stated: I will do my utmost to reclaim the Darwin Port. Recently, such voices have become more frequent, indicating a strong intention to kick out the Chinese enterprise.
In response to this situation, Ambassador Xiao naturally does not need to be polite with these people. He pointed out: you leased out the port when you were losing money, and now the Chinese enterprise has put in a lot of effort to make it profitable, yet you want to reclaim it. This is inappropriate in terms of morality.
Of course, Ambassador Xiao is currently just talking about morality with the Australians. If they really intend to break the contract, then we will talk business, and they will have to pay the astronomical penalty fee. Media reports indicate: according to the 2015 agreement, if the Australian side forcibly reclaim it now, they will have to pay the Chinese enterprise a breach of contract fee of 4.6 billion Australian dollars. Whether they can afford this money or are willing to pay remains to be seen.
In fact, anyone with clear eyes can see that things have come to this point, inevitably due to the hidden hand of the United States, just like the ports on the Panama Canal. But we must remind the Australian government: the situation of the Sino-US tariff war is already before our eyes. If they continue to take the wrong side at this moment, they will be burying the future of Australia.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1833144245922827/
Disclaimer: The article solely represents the author's personal views.