Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced on Monday that he had ordered six shareholders to divest their holdings in Northern Minerals,citing so-called security concerns,Reuters reported.Chinese experts denounced the move as a typical case of overreach of national security,which damages the investment environment of Australia and undermines global supply chain stability.
Chalmers claimed the decision aims to protect the country's national interest and to ensure compliance with its foreign investment framework,Reuters reported.
Six shareholders in the A$229 million($163 million)firm must sell their stakes within two weeks from Monday,according to a statement from the Treasury.Five of them are registered in Chinese mainland or Hong Kong SAR,according to the statement,and one in the British Virgin Islands,according to a Bloomberg report.
Northern Minerals said it was aware of the Treasurer's orders in a statement and was considering its next steps.Its shares fell more than 8%to A$0.022 and were trading at lessthan halfthe price of equity it issued in a placement last October,according to the Reuters report.
“This forced divestment represents a classic case of‘pan-securitization,’where strategically valuable business collaborations with Chinese links are being securitized and politicized,turning regulatory oversight into country-specific discrimination,”Chen Hong,a professor and director of the Australian Studies Center at East China Normal University,told the Global Times on Monday.
The expert noted that the practice sends an extremely dangerous signal to international investors that Australia’s investment rules are highly uncertain.
“A country that calls for foreign capital to participate in its commercial development yet arbitrarily forces investors to withdraw in the name of national interest is seriously damaging its own investment environment,”Chen said.
Northern Minerals has been the subject of several Australian government interventions in recent years regarding its shareholder base,with the first in 2024 requiring five Chinese parties to dispose of their shares in the miner on“national interest”grounds,Reuters reported.
Someof those parties at the time sold to a related party,Hong Kong-based investor Ying Tak,Reuters reported.Treasurer Chalmers placed an interim order in April on Ying Tak,which restricted itfrom voting at Northern Minerals'annual meeting and selling its shares,according to the report.
From the industrial perspective,Australia’s act of pushing critical mineral cooperation toward securitization and politics harms not only Chinese enterprises’legitimate interests but also its own industrial development opportunities,ultimately exacerbating the fragility of the global supply chain,Chen added.
“The rare earths industrial chain is an extremely complex and integrated system.Countries around the world should strengthen cooperation,stabilize development expectations,and improve relevant rules,”Chen said.
In recent years,Western countries,including Australia,have engaged in effort to reduce so‑called rare earth dependence on China.
Commenting on a question claiming that G7 finance ministers reached an agreement in January calling for a reduction in dependence on China for rare earths,Mao Ning,spokesperson from China's Foreign Ministry,told a press conference that China's position on maintaining the stability and security of global critical mineral supply chains remains unchanged.
