Sky News host Chris Kenny says Australia needs to open its eyes to recognise China is “not a strategic ally but a strategic opponent” and their 50 per cent ownership of a crucial Australian port “could be detrimental to our national interests.”

It comes regarding news 50 per cent of one of Australia’s “crucial economic and strategic” assets, the Port of Newcastle, is owned by China.

“We’ve all heard a lot about the lease of the port of Darwin to China, how it kind of snuck through, how the US was taken by surprise and dismayed, and how if we had our time again, and saw the aggressive regional posture of China, we would not have allowed this to happen,” he said.

“But what about the Port of Newcastle? Isn’t that an even more strategic port in the here and now?”

The Chinese 50 per cent stakeholders, in a 2018 Industry Publication, explicitly stated their investment in the port was part of their Belt and Road initiative.

“That’s the same Belt and Road initiative that aims to strengthen Chinese influence, resources and power globally, the same agreement the Australian government doesn’t want a bar of, and the same Belt and Road Initiative that Victoria signed up to, much to the chagrin of Canberra,” Mr Kenny said.

“Incredibly, despite all the current tensions, and China’s appalling abuse of Australia and bullying behaviour on trade and tariffs, despite all that, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is standing by his Belt and Road deal with Beijing.

“Now, the federal government is so concerned about Belt and Road initiative that Scott Morrison has introduced special laws to parliament, the foreign relations bill, to give it powers to overturn such deals signed up to by state governments.

“So what about the Port of Newcastle, what about its Chinese half-owners, and what about their commitment to Belt and Road?

“We need to wake up in this country. We need to open our eyes. We need to recognise that China is not a strategic ally but a strategic opponent.”