When the United States signed an agreement in 2011 to use Australia¡¯s tropical port of Darwin as a base for military exercises, it was viewed as a key focus of former President Barack Obama¡¯s strategic pivot to Asia.

But ammunition and equipment for war games between U.S. and Australian forces will come ashore in June at Darwin¡¯s Chinese-run port under the eyes of a firm that is said to have links with China¡¯s military.

China, not the United States, is fast becoming the best hope for rejuvenating long-neglected Darwin, a city named after the 19th-century naturalist Charles Darwin and better known for its monster crocodiles and giant beers.