When reports surfaced last year that China Mobile was interested in buying Digicel’s Papua New Guinean and South Pacific business, it didn’t go down well in Canberra.  China Mobile is, like all big Chinese companies, an agent of the Chinese state. By buying Digicel’s South Pacific business, the fear is it would be able to listen in on conversations with local leaders, neighbouring countries, and visiting Australian officials. The Australian State also worried the business would be used to bribe local officials. China aspires to be a superpower, and any would-be superpower needs a sphere of influence. Like the USSR…

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