(April 7): China hit back at plans by both major Australian parties to end a lease on a major port after an upcoming election, an issue that threatens to hurt bilateral ties that have only just recovered from years of tensions.

“We urge Australia to provide a fair, non-discriminatory and predictable business environment for Chinese business there,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Monday at a regular press briefing in Beijing when asked about the plans to cut short a Chinese company’s 99-year lease on the Port of Darwin.

“Do not overstretch the concept of national security, and do not politicise normal business cooperation,” Lin said.

A lease dating to 2015 held by a Chinese company called Landbridge Group has become an top issue in a national election set for May 3 that’s expected to be close. Both Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and opposition Liberal leader Peter Dutton have pledged in the past week to end Landbridge’s 99-year deal and find a private owner.

Beijing-Canberra relations have improved since the centre-left Labor government was elected in 2022, recovering from a dispute over the origins of Covid-19 that saw a range of Australian goods effectively blocked from sale in China. Recent geopolitical issues including live-fire drills by the People’s Liberation Navy off the Australian coast have also tested the diplomatic warming.

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