Australia's remote Darwin courts China even with U.S. Marines

Supply vessels for the offshore gas rigs sit at Darwin port in northern Australia, April 21, 2017. REUTERS/Tom Westbrook

DARWIN (Reuters) - 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 when ammunition and equipment arrives in June for war games between U.S. and Australian forces in tropical Darwin, it will come ashore at the town's Chinese-run port under the eyes of a firm said to have links with China's military.