Since the global financial crisis 14 years ago, China has pumped about $ 135 billion into Australia, the largest amount of money it has invested anywhere in the world except for the United States, according to a study published by the University of Sydney entitled “Demystifying Chinese Investments in Australia.”
China has a wide range of assets in Australia, including: a major port, mines, farmland, a dairy company, expensive real estate, schools, water and energy companies.
In short, every aspect of life in Australia is under Chinese influence.
Relations between Beijing and Canberra deteriorated so much that Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton talked about the possibility of a war with China in early April.
This tension in the relationship between the two sides led to the suspension of Chinese purchases in Australia, especially as the latter tightened scrutiny on deals that China is a party to.
In 2021, China spent 28 times less on Australia than its peak in 2008.
Last year, Beijing bought $815 million in assets in Australia, while it bought $22.5 billion in assets in 2008.
Chinese investments in Australia decreased in 2021, by 70 percent, compared to 2020, which witnessed a rise in the level of tension.
However, China is still the largest foreign investor in Australia.
Some MPs talk about the danger of these investments to Australia’s security, especially a port deal that allows China to manage it for 99 years, but Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that there was no power for the federal government to break the contract.
In order to confront what Australia describes as the “Chinese threat”, it joined the “Quad” alliance, which also includes the United States, India and Japan, and joined the “Five Eyes” intelligence alliance, which includes in addition to the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Britain.
And Sino-Australian relations are very tense against the background of many files, from the Corona virus to cyber attacks, to the growing Chinese military presence in the Indo-Pacific.
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