A United States nuclear-powered submarine visited northern Australia near a strategic port controlled by a Chinese firm, which is reported to have connections to Beijing’s military.
Newsweek has emailed the Landbridge Group for comment. It was awarded a 99-year lease contract to operate Darwin Port in Australia‘s Northern Territory in 2015.
Why It Matters
Australia is a key American ally in the South Pacific and Darwin Port is Australia’s nearest port to Asia. While the Landbridge Group asserts that it is a “private company” that operates businesses in China and Australia, it has ties to the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese military, an Australian think tank has claimed.
What To Know
USS Minnesota, a Virginia-class fast-attack submarine, made a scheduled visit to Darwin on March 27, mooring alongside the submarine tender USS Emory S. Land. The Minnesota and the Emory S. Land left Darwin on Monday and Wednesday, respectively.
The 7,800-ton submarine is homeported in Guam, a U.S. military hub. Armed with torpedoes and cruise missiles, the submarine also stopped in Australia on February 25, when it arrived on the nation’s west coast.
The Emory S. Land provided logistical support to the Minnesota. The submarine tender is designed to provide expeditionary maintenance, services, and logistics support to deployed submarines, according to the U.S. Navy.
Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Mario E. Reyes Villatoro/U.S. Navy
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported that the Minnesota was docked near Darwin Port while security measures had heightened around the city’s harbor. According to its official website, Darwin Port services naval ships at the Fort Hill Wharf facility.
The American submarine’s stopover in Darwin has drawn attention to the port lease contract after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to “take back” the Panama Canal. Two key ports along the strategic waterway are owned by a Chinese conglomerate.
U.S. officials are “increasingly concerned” by the Darwin Port agreement and have raised the issue with their counterparts in Australia since Trump’s re-election, the report added.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday that he would have “more to say” about the lease before election day on May 3. The Landbridge Group said in a statement that it has not discussed the agreement with the Australian government.
What People Are Saying
Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said: “With additional security that’s been provided by the Northern Territory government, by ourselves, [and] with the Americans’ own security, they were very complimentary about this specific visit [by USS Minnesota] and the way in which they have been handled.”
U.S. Navy Captain Kenneth Holland, commanding officer of USS Emory S. Land, said: “The submarine tender is able to provide logistical support to ships and submarines anywhere and anytime in the world to enable our forces to operate at sea and maintain a secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.”
Terry O’Connor, non-executive director for Landbridge in Australia, said in a statement to the ABC: “Landbridge considers the [Darwin] Port a long-term investment that has reported record operational performance this year. We expect this growth to continue in the future.”
What Happens Next
It remains to be seen whether the U.S. will put more pressure on Australia to reconsider the Darwin Port lease contract in a bid to maximize the security of U.S. naval ships during visits.
