A general view of the access entry to the Port of Darwin on April 08, 2025 in Darwin, Australia. Photo: VCG

Australia is reportedly facing US pressure to accelerate the termination of a Chinese company's 99-year lease of the Port of Darwin, with a visiting bipartisan US congressional delegation raising the issue directly with senior Australian ministers while also pressing Canberra to increase defense spending. US pressure over the Darwin Port lease has exposed Australia's shrinking strategic autonomy, said a Chinese expert, adding that an early termination could both serve Washington's regional strategy against China and damage Australia's reputation as a reliable investment destination.

Michael McCaul, a Republican US congressman who co-chairs the Friends of Australia caucus, said the matter was raised by a member of the US delegation when they met last week with officials including Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy, according to a report from The Sydney Morning Herald on Wednesday. 

McCaul said during a debrief about the trip in Washington that "When we talk about critical minerals, I think it's important that Australia own that port." He also claimed the delegation accepted the Albanese government's response that it was working to get out of the 99-year-lease to the Chinese-owned Landbridge Group, a decision made in 2015 by the Northern Territory government and waved through by the Turnbull government in Canberra, per report.

Defense spending was also discussed on the visit, McCaul said, making it clear that Washington still expected Australia to lift spending to at least 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product, per the report. 

The US congressional delegation has openly pressed Australia to terminate the Darwin Port lease at an accelerated pace, in a clear move of direct diplomatic pressure. The dispute over Darwin Port is a politically manufactured issue stemming from Australia's consistent accommodation of Washington's so-called Indo-Pacific agenda and its military enhancement in northern Australia. Amid a growing US military footprint in Australia, the US has become more hostile toward Chinese firms' long-term operation of this strategically vital port, Chen Hong, director of the Australian Studies Center of East China Normal University, told the Global Times on Wednesday. 

Although Australia has framed moves to retake the port as a matter of national sovereignty, Chen argued that they serve US strategic priorities and highlight Australia's shrinking room for independent decision-making under the alliance.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had said at the federal election in 2025 that Labor would return the port to Australian hands, claiming it was necessary for national security, according to Australian media outlet ABC News.

The government has since been locked in negotiations with Landbridge, the Chinese-owned company that owns Darwin Port, as it tries to secure an Australian buyer and has flagged that it is willing to force the company to hand over the port if necessary.

The US has revived the Darwin Port issue as part of broader pressure on Australia to raise defense spending, expand the US military presence, deepen AUKUS cooperation and reshape critical mineral supply chains. Taken together, these demands seek to align Australia's security, industrial and infrastructure policies more closely with Washington's "Indo-Pacific strategy," said Chen. 

"This is no longer ordinary policy coordination between allies, but coercive power intervention with strong strategic constraints," said Chen. 

In May, 2025 when meeting reporters on the sidelines of the International Relations Conference of the 2025 Darwin Fusion, then Chinese Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian expressed hope that Australia's federal and local governments can view the operation of Darwin port project in an objective manner and seriously fulfill their commitments in a lease agreement reached a decade ago.

Landbridge has also launched international legal action to try and stop the Australian government from acquiring the port. The company said it acquired its interest in the port "through a fair, open and competitive process in full compliance with all applicable Australian laws and regulatory approvals," according to a previous Global Times report in May, 2026.

Chen warned that if Australia forcibly ends the Darwin Port lease early, the impact would go far beyond a single Chinese investment project. It could undermine confidence in the stability, predictability and contractual integrity of Australia's investment environment.

"The fallout could damage not only China-Australia economic trust but also Australia's reputation as an open and reliable investment destination," said Chen.