<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jun/29/its-not-chinese-assistance-australia-accuses-china-of-taking-undue-credit-for-aid-projects-in-the-pacific>
"China is bolstering its geopolitical influence in the Pacific by “branding”
Asian Development Bank projects – funded in significant part by Australian
taxpayer dollars – as Chinese projects, the Australian government says.
On the island of Bougainville, an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea to
Australia’s north, the state-owned China Railway Construction Corporation has
begun work to strengthen the runway at Kieta-Aropa, on the outskirts of the
largest city.
When the government of Bougainville announced the upgrade of the airport, there
was no mention of the Asian Development Bank – who is funding the project –
only the state-owned China Railway Construction Corporation.
And when an inauguration ceremony was held last month at the airport’s runway,
the president of Bougainville and the prime minister of Papua New Guinea broke
the ground with a shovel wearing hard hats adorned with the name and logo of
the CRCC. An ADB sign was visible in the background.
Australia’s minister for the Pacific, Pat Conroy, said the “branding” of
multilateral development projects had been a consistent frustration for the
government.
“It’s not Chinese assistance. A Chinese state-owned enterprise won a contract
under the Asian Development Bank … that project is funded by the ADB.
“The largest donors to the ADB are countries like Japan and Australia, which is
part of my frustration … because people driving past would assume it’s funded
by China because you see Chinese state-owned enterprise branding everywhere,
but it’s funded by the taxpayers of countries like Japan and Australia.”
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
