Financial reasons are the public justification for Chinese technology giant Huawei's early exit from its major sponsorship deal with the Canberra Raiders, but the decision can't be divorced from the political tensions between Australia and China, a leading expert says.
Huawei signed a two-year major sponsorship deal with the club in 2019, which involved the company's logo on the front of the team's jumper until the end of 2021, as well as naming rights to the new training facility opened in Braddon. It's believed to be worth $1 million a year to the club.
On Monday, the company announced it would end the deal a year early, with the logo only to be on the back of the jumper, while the naming rights on the building would remain.
"I'm sure there's a back story to this that will emerge sooner or later," said Professor Clive Hamilton, who has written two books about the spread of the influence of the Chinese Communist Party across the world.
In Silent Invasion: China's influence in Australia, Professor Hamilton wrote Huawei pursued a sponsorship deal with the Raiders over that of the other major sporting team in the capital, rugby union team the Brumbies, due to the heavy hitters on the Raiders' board.
Among those sitting at the board table are two former secretaries of the Defence Department, Allan Hawke and Dennis Richardson, the latter of whom was also director-general of ASIO.
"The sponsorship of the Raiders by Huawei in my view has always had a political purpose, and that is to give Huawei legitimacy in Canberra, where vital decisions are made, and to give Huawei executives an opportunity to rub shoulders with influential Canberra opinion makers such as Dennis Richardson and Allan Hawke," Professor Hamilton said on Monday.
Huawei and the Raiders have strenuously denied Professor Hamilton's assertions since the publication of his book, with the company's Australian spokesman labelling it an "insult" when the book was published.
While there is no doubt the worldwide economic situation is challenging, Monday's announcement will be seen against a backdrop of an Australian government that has made a series of announcements about countering foreign interference aimed squarely at China.
"People in senior positions in Canberra are now much more wary of Huawei.
"The company is being shunned around the Western world and associating with it can't enhance anyone's reputation, and perhaps, and I am speculating here, Huawei has found the investment in the Raiders has not paid off in the way expected," Professor Hamilton said.
In the company's public statement on Monday, there was acknowledgement that its advancement in the Australian market hadn't gone as planned after the company was labelled "high risk" by the Australian government.
"Even after the Turnbull government banned us from 5G we managed to find the resources to continue the sponsorship but we just can't financially support it any longer," the company's Australian chief corporate affairs officer Jeremy Mitchell said.
While Huawei is disappearing from the front of the jersey, the relationship between the club and company will continue, albeit in a more limited way.
"Huawei's political influence has waned sharply and I would read this step as being a softer path to complete withdrawal, which I'd expect to happen in the next two to three years," Professor Hamilton said.
Resistance to foreign interference in Australian institutions is set to take a new form, with the government to introduce a new inquiry by the powerful Intelligence and Security committee into foreign interference in universities.
New legislation designed to give the Foreign Minister the power to veto or revoke deals between state governments, universities and councils will be introduced to the parliament this week.
