Australia is reviewing whether to force a Chinese company to sell a lease to a strategically important port used by U.S. Marines, a move that could further stoke tensions with Beijing.
The National Security Committee of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s Cabinet has asked the Defense Department to advise on the ownership, Defense Minister Peter Dutton said in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald published late Sunday. Asked whether the government was mulling forced divestment, he said officials would consider the national interests.
The move is likely to further hurt ties between Australia and its largest trading partner, which have nosedived since the call by Morrison’s government a year ago for Beijing to allow independent investigators into Wuhan to probe the origins of the coronavirus. Since then, China has implemented a range of trade actions against Australian goods, including coal, wine and barley.