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Cerberus, a Chinese port operator, has targeted Darwin Port amid Australia's local-ownership push.

A senior executive from the Chinese operator of Darwin Port said that the U.S. firm Cerberus was interested in buying the lease. This comes amid an Australian government push to return the port to Australian ownership.

Terry O'Connor is the Australia non-executive Director of Landbridge, a Chinese company that operates Darwin Port. He said a Cerberus executive had met with Peter Dummett, Chief Executive Officer at Darwin Port, a fortnight earlier and expressed an interest. However, he hadn't yet spoken to Landbridge's Board.

Cerberus has not responded to our request for comment. Landbridge previously stated that the port was not for sale and it hadn't discussed the issue with the Australian Government.

China's Ambassador to Canberra, on Sunday, criticised Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for his election promise last month that he would return the strategically-located northern port to local control.

In 2015, the Northern Territory government sold Landbridge the 99-year lease of the port for $506 million. This was a controversial move that was criticized by Barack Obama, the U.S. President at the time. Around 2,000 U.S. Marines carry out exercises six months a year in Darwin, the northern city where the U.S. is expanding its air base to accommodate U.S. Bombers.

The Australian newspaper reported for the first time on Tuesday that Cerberus Capital Management was preparing an official proposal to purchase the port. Cerberus Capital Management was founded by billionaire Stephen Feinberg, who was appointed U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defence in March.

Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said Tuesday, in response to a Darwin Port question, that "the Chinese enterprise concerned" obtained the lease through the market and their legitimate interests and rights should be protected.

The Australian federal Government is conducting a separate process in order to identify potential Australian investors and buyers for the port.

Luke Gosling said that he had met with many potential supporters of the Port Darwin in a recent statement. Gosling is the federal lawmaker who serves as the special envoy to Northern Australia and defence.

He added, "We will work through this process methodically."

Last week, Northern Territory Treasurer Bill Yan said that the port had to be prepared for "heavier defense logistics, the surge of critical mineral exports, and the growing LNG shipments", as well as operate in "Australian interest".

Yan's office has not responded to a comment request.

John Coyne is the director of national-security programs at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. He said that Landbridge selling the port to make a profit would be a better option for the Albanese Government than intervening to end the lease for national security reasons, which could result in retaliation from China.

He said that Beijing would not be pleased with the sale of such an asset, and added that China might discourage foreign investment into Australia. (Reporting from Sydney by Kirsty Neetham; Additional reporting in Beijing by Liz Lee; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman).

(source: Reuters)