House 1

Sonnet House

Mr.Phillips

AP English 4th period

December 14th 2018

Tensions Spilling Over

China bids for one of Australia’s Gas Lines

Chinese power hungry business men are pressing Australia for clean energy with

outrageously large bids. Li Ka-Shing a large business influencer in china is willing to take a risk

and go against his own companies advice to invest in Australia's gas operation.Oil is what

makes the difference between living in a developed or a developing world. Oil is an economic

power that can be traded among countries to bring more opportunities. China is the world’s

largest trade competitor and has the highest desire for economic power. Australia's concern for

national security will potentially disappear if actions are followed through to deny China access

to the Darwin gas line.

Australia’s reasoning for denying China's request is completely justifiable. The

Concern with the APA gives reason that China should not be trying to take control of the gas

line as events have taken place that already have the government of Australia on edge.

December 3rd 2018, 7 people including 4 children ( one in serious condition ) have been taken

to the hospital after being exposed to chemicals at a pool southwest of Sydney. Fire and rescue

stated that chemicals had been in the water and formed a gas cloud, with people nearby

complaining of respiratory issues, they have since been under surveillance. The location incident

is significant in that it was right near the Eastern Market Gas line, a major Australian gas line.
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Unfortunately China really has no other choice but to turn to Australia. over 4 millions

homes in china have stopped using coal and switched to “clean energy” but when winter hits gas

supplies begin to run low. China proceeded to re-up their power plants and use coal. But prior to

the winter the power plants had been shut down for months, declaring Beijing the first coal free

city in China. Sadly China's stubborn drive for power doesn't help the cause to lower pollution

production. But Australia’s choice to help or not could drastically improve the quality of life in

china as it is the largest pollution producing country.

Carbon Emissions from fossil fuels burning have sped up, due to the higher and higher

resumption of growth in China. Emissions of CO2 from fossil fuels have been up 2.7 percent

compared to the average 1.6 percent. Latest research shows that not only does the pollution have

effect on physical health but scientist hypothesize that test scores and grades in school can be

affected by the increasing use of pollutants. Zhang Xin an expert in regarding pollution affecting

studies says “Essentially we compare the same person in two time periods” meaning that there is

a possibility of pollution causing damage to the brain. Grades in China are a huge deal as Hong

Kong is recognized at the 2nd smartest country in the world. Students are tested furiously

throughout all levels of school, So pollution having an effect on grades may be the push China

needs to start taking pollution serious.

Australia’s Government has serious choices to make, “ If we want to keep the living

standards in Australia high we need to keep wealth here in our country, that doesn’t say stop the

investment in this case basically a monopoly asset why aren’t they bidding for these vital

infrastructure” - said by senator Williams of Australia. Wealth is needed in australia to keep the

definitive way of living and taking China’s bid can achieve that for the country. Yet some are

worried about where such a large offer is coming from, the last thing Australia wants is to be in a
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skeptical money tie with china, China already owns most of the major gas lines in Australia.

Some Australian citizens are worried that china in taking the Darwin gas line will have a sort of

power leverage over the government. Andy Hunter deputy chief executive in CK called about

concern on where Australia stands saying that “ We are properly governed” hinting to the fact

that China’s company greed would “Control” Australia is entirely false, China has no current

power in Australian government. A Quote by Mr. Frydenbery parliament member of Australia

said “ I have formed this view on the grounds that it would result in an undue concentration of

foreign ownership by a single company group in our most significant gas transmission business”.

The prime minister also had a statement regarding how Australia is handling its judgement about

China possibly having some power over the government. “ If I received a direct report that said

there was an issue there that could be directly attributable to china or at china’s direction we

should act on that, but I have not received such information”.

If Australia decides to allow China to take control of the Darwin gas line dramatic good

and bad changes could occur. The last thing Australia wants is a complication with an already

delicate situation. Pipelines are used to transport different types of gases and oils to locations that

need them for factory work, machine upkeep, and cars funcion. The first pipeline in Australia

was functional around the 1800’s, it set a record for being 10 times longer than any other

pipeline in the world at that time. Now more than 37,000km of high pressure gas lines go

throughout the entire country. Researchers have studied an estimate of two decades worth of

information regarding safety and cautions related to gas lines. More than two million in cash is

put in to support the complicated network of pipelines to insure the correct precautions are made

every year. Australia has an abundance of supplies of natural gas, enough to sustain for 50 years

based on current production.

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Final choices whether Australia should give access

to the Darwin gas line and allow China to take over and run things are still under consideration.

Australia’s choice is crucial as millions of lives are affected due to pollution, by switching to gas

rather than coal, pollution levels will plummet in china allowing for cleaner energy. Yet

Australia

is not willing to just hand over the gas line, besides the very large offer which is still in question.

The government doesn’t want China to have any kind of upper hand trailing the agreement. Li

Ka-Shing’s outrageously large bid raises some concern to the australian government . Although

allowing China to take control of the Darwin gas line Australia would be able to maintain its way

of life as Australia takes massive pride on the beauty and high standard of their country, with the

current offer around 13 billion Australia would be more than able to maintain its county

standards. The choice to block China’s bid follows the idea that China dug its own grave with

burning so much coal, plus China already controls most of Australia’s major gas and pipelines,

adding this line to China’s already huge collection would feed China’s power hungry ego.

Work Cited

“ Australia Likely To Block Hong Kong Company’s Bid For Gas Pipeline”
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Article by: Jamie Tarabay

Accessed 12-5-18

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/07/business/australia-ck-group-apa-group-li-ka-shing.html

“Call To Block 13 Billion Dollar Hong Kong Bid For Nations Gas Network”

Article by: Primrose Riordan

Accessed: 12-4-18

https://www.theaustralian.com.au › national-affairs › national-security

"The world must resolve China's power grab." Age [Melbourne, Australia], 30 May 2018, p.

18. Global Issues in Context,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A540691612/GIC?u=rale84535&sid=GIC&xid=42a24be

0. Accessed 13 Dec. 2018.

“ Children Take To Hospital After HAZMAT Incident At Pool”

Article by: Rachel Clun

Accessed 12-3-18

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/children-taken-to-hospital-after-hazmat-incident-at-pool-

20181203-p50jts.html
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