A new paper by Dr. David A. Anderson and Major Richard Mogg published in Small Wars Journal investigates the threat to Australia’s national security posed by SWFs (specifically China’s SWFs). With extensive military experience in both the U.S. and Australia, the authors provide some interesting insights into how Western armed services perceive SWFs. While the authors dampen most threats, one of their findings is potentially inflammatory:
“It appears that in the case of certain Chinese Government investments in the Australia resource industry that the intention of the Chinese Government is access to and control of resources, rather than investing only for profit.”
If true, this would leave many in Australia feeling pretty uncomfortable about China’s ongoing interest in their country’s natural resources. Nevertheless, the authors conclude:
“SWFs offer both threats and opportunities to global finance and geo-politics. As such, SWFs present a dilemma as nations want to attract the benefits of foreign investment, while also safeguarding against the threats of foreign government influence. SWF investment in Australia has offered many benefits to Australia by recycling trade imbalances and providing investment capital for development of infrastructure in the energy and resource sectors.”
