Pauline Hanson makes no secret of her distrust of and disdain for China. She's criticised the prime minister for engaging with Beijing, called for the recognition of Taiwan as an independent state, warned about China's growing military presence in the Indo-Pacific and been highly critical of its investment in and ownership of Australian assets.

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What she doesn't mention is that the "sexy" new $1.3 million aircraft given to her by mining magnate Gina Rinehart in April is made by a Chinese owned company the US Department of War has just listed as a Chinese military concern.

Cirrus was founded in the US but in 2011 was acquired by a subsidiary of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China.

"AVIC is a military-civil fusion contributor to the Chinese defence industrial base because it is affiliated with the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) and State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND)," a document relates to the listing says.

The listing means the War Department cannot enter into or renew contracts with Cirrus on national security grounds.

Senator Hanson would have been unaware of that listing when she gushed over the shiny new aircraft back in April.

And it's doubtful she'd have known about a decision last year by the state of Utah to block the sale of land to Cirrus - on national security grounds and in line with state laws restricting land sales to certain foreign entities.

Any expectation that a party that struggles to properly vet its own candidates would check the provenance of a new plane is fanciful. Why would Pauline's staff bother looking into Cirrus? Why would they suspect that back in 2021 the parent company AVIC was one of 59 entities added to the US Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies list?

None of this is to say there's anything remotely wrong with........

© Canberra Times