The Australian government has drafted new laws that would cancel international deals struck by lower tiers of governments with foreign states that are not in Australia’s interests, officials said yesterday in a move likely to increase tensions with China.
Victoria state’s memorandum of understanding with Beijing under China’s Belt and Road Initiative, signed two years ago to attract more Chinese infrastructure investment, is among the deals to be reviewed, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne said.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison would not comment on the likelihood of the Victorian deal with China being scrapped, saying that he did not want to “prejudice the outcome” of a review.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The legislation to be introduced to the Australian parliament next week did not target China, he said.
“My biggest concern is Australia’s national sovereign interest,” Morrison told reporters.
Australian Attorney General Christian Porter told parliament yesterday that the first investigations were being conducted in New South Wales under the foreign interference laws, which carry penalties of up to 20 years in prison.
Two entities have been formally asked why they had not applied for registration as agents of influence working for a foreign principal, Porter said.
Porter did not identify the entities receiving the notices or the countries they are suspected of acting for.
The proposed legislation would give Payne power to scrap international deals struck by state governments, public institutions such as universities and at local government level, sister-city partnerships.
It would also create a national register of such deals. Future deals would need federal government approval and could be revoked.
The Australian government has identified 135 agreements with more than 30 countries that needed to be reviewed, Payne said.
The Foreign Relations Bill was announced days after the government revealed it had blocked the US$430 million sale of a major dairy business, Lion Dairy and Drinks, to China Mengniu Dairy Co (中國蒙牛乳業) on the grounds that it would be “contrary to the national interest.”
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) is set to issue sea and land warnings for Tropical Storm Krathon as projections showed that the tropical storm could strengthen into a typhoon as it approaches Taiwan proper, the CWA said yesterday. The sea warning is scheduled to take effect this morning and the land warning this evening, it said. The storm formed yesterday morning and in the evening reached a point 620 nautical miles (1,148km) southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, moving west-southwest at 4 kph as it strengthened, the CWA said. Its radius measured between 220km and 250km, it added. Krathon is projected
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