back to article Australia, US and Japan want Huawei local submarine cable project

Australia is once again trying to get Huawei removed from a submarine cable contract in the Asia-Pacific. The cable in question is planned to link Papua New Guinea communities of Port Moresby, Alotau, Popondetta, Lae and Madang. At Port Moresby, it would connect to the Coral Sea Cable System which at the end of 2019 will land …

  1. frank ly

    "Carouso said America is working to take a bigger trade and investment role in this region, but that has been hampered by complex processes and too many private and public sector bodies making PNG difficult to deal with."

    That short paragraph gives the impression that it's PNG's fault and PNG's private and public sector bodies complicating things. I assume you mean that the USA's private and public sector bodies are getting in the way?

    1. Black Betty

      Primary problem is Western investment comes with onerous conditions.

      Generally along the lines of, privatize and sell off the public sector to finance or underwrite loans.

      China's loans come with no strings attached.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: China's loans come with no strings attached.

        Hmm.

        1. Yes Me Silver badge
          Flame

          Re: China's loans come with no strings attached.

          Why "Hmm"? And don't you think that Western loans come with strings?

          This is all just cheating. PNG is a sovereign nation and it may deal with whomever it wants. And they've done a deal already. That should be the end of it.

          To beat China, you have to offer better value for money in the first place, not cheat by attempting to undercut them later.

          1. Alan Brown Silver badge

            Re: China's loans come with no strings attached.

            "not cheat by attempting to undercut them later."

            If you do the wheeling and dealing right, you can ensure the undercutting badly hurts those making the offer whilst removing most (if not all) of the usual conditions they'd apply, essentially making the project a "gift" with no strings and no repayments.

            Such is the fun when you're dealing with countries that are driving a political, not a business agenda. China's taking advantage of the world free trade system in the same way that Germany did in the 1840s-1914 period (by being good at it) and facing the same political forces that caused Germany to feel compelled to build a bluewater navy.

            The difference _THIS TIME_ is that China's also building an extensive land transport system for moving goods across Eurasia and Africa that can't be blockaded along with a backstop land route into Africa whilst re-establishing a number of major African trading points that the Portuguese pounded flat 500 years ago as part of their effort to establish themselves as a sea trading power by destroying the Silk Road (which also included teaming up with the Burmese to revolt against the Khanate empire, break the road at its most strategic point and allowed the burmese to then start invading their neighbours for the next 400 years - breaking a lot of neighbouring kingdoms in the process and ruining healthy trade for a few centuries.)

            Yes, their loans come with plenty of strings attached (mainly of the Pax Morporkia variety) but the countries involved see it as crucial to reestablishing themselves without colonial shackles - which STILL exist.

      2. deive

        Re: Primary problem is Western investment comes with onerous conditions.

        "Generally along the lines of, privatize and sell off the public sector to finance or underwrite loans." - Upvote for this

        "China's loans come with no strings attached." - And back down again, sorry.

  2. JJKing
    Devil

    Ah yes China policy is, "All your [insert items] soon belong to us".

    China's loans come with no strings attached.

    Better tell the people of Sri Lanka that then.

  3. Alan Brown Silver badge

    So....

    > By contrast, he said the “Chinese model” is “just sign here and you will get a port, an airport, whatever you want.”

    Much the same deal as the USA used to offer in Cold War days, complete with clauses minimizing the local content and ensuring that the debts could never be paid off.

    In any case, it's far too late unless the other three offer unbeatable terms to keep the chinese bank happy - and there's nothing stopping China upping the ante at that point - much the same as predatory companies do, but without the inherent overall protection of anti-trust or anti-cartel laws, however tissue-paper thin those might be.

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