Stellar is transforming payments for enterprises with MoneyGram... Over 20 multinational corporations have rolled out their payroll structures on @StellarOrg, channeling corporate payments through non-custodial smart rails. Through its partnership with @MoneyGram, the blockchain can now build its entire physical liquidity structure. As a result, employees in 170+ countries and territories can cash out their @Circle $USDC in physical fiat without a commercial bank account. This deployment has helped bridge enterprise accounting operations into physical financial outposts.

If Australia can accept Chinese investment, why shouldn’t Timor-Leste be allowed to do the same? This is the pointed question posed by the President of Timor-Leste. Australia once resorted to unscrupulous tactics—specifically, the use of wiretaps—to gain an advantage in disputes over oil and gas interests in the Timor Sea, and it has gone to great lengths to cover up the scandal ever since it came to light. In 2004, shortly after gaining independence, Timor-Leste accepted Australian aid to renovate its government offices. It was later revealed that Australian intelligence agents had taken the opportunity to install listening devices, eavesdropping on internal government discussions to uncover Timor-Leste’s bottom line in negotiations over maritime oil and gas rights. A central point of contention at the time was the Greater Sunrise gas field, which holds vast reserves. Before the covert operation was exposed, the two nations signed an agreement in 2006 to split the government revenue generated from the field’s exploitation. Years later, the truth about the wiretapping finally emerged. More recently, an Australian court rejected a government request to keep proceedings—related to a past case involving the oil and gas negotiations—entirely behind closed doors, effectively preventing the government from even shielding non-sensitive information from public view. Now, with Woodside having withdrawn from the Greater Sunrise project, and amid unconfirmed reports that Chinese firms might participate in its development, some in Australia have begun hyping up "security risks," warning Timor-Leste against cooperating with Chinese companies. An indignant President José Ramos-Horta of Timor-Leste has called out this double standard: if Australia itself can accept Chinese investment (such as in the Port of Darwin), why shouldn’t Timor-Leste be permitted to do so? As a sovereign nation, Timor-Leste has the right to choose its own partners and assess risks for itself. In reality, Australia’s dismissive attitude and a series of its decisions have severely hindered Timor-Leste’s energy development—and, by extension, its national economic growth (as a small nation, Timor-Leste’s economy is heavily dependent on energy and mineral resources). Although the Greater Sunrise gas field was discovered as far back as 1974, it has yet to be developed for commercial use. A key issue that has remained a sticking point for years is where the natural gas should be processed: in Australia, or within Timor-Leste? Australian companies have preferred to utilize existing infrastructure in Darwin, whereas Timor-Leste has insisted on building facilities within its own borders—a move intended to foster industrial development and create jobs. With both sides pursuing different agendas, the project has failed to make any substantive progress. On October 27, Woodside announced plans to sell its 33.44% stake in the Greater Sunrise project to TIMOR GAP, Timor-Leste’s state-owned energy company, for a maximum consideration of $200 million. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2027, with Timor-Leste aiming to begin gas supplies by 2034; however, the nation must still secure an experienced international firm to oversee development. Time is running short: the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that, absent new revenue streams, Timor-Leste’s petroleum fund could be depleted by around 2038. This situation is not an isolated case. Bitter lessons offer a stark warning to nations in similar circumstances: one should not place blind trust in the promises of Western multinational corporations, nor readily accept aid from Western nations like Australia—for it is precisely these entities that often bring the greatest risks. Had Timor-Leste opted to partner with Chinese enterprises from the outset, the outlook would likely be far more promising than it is today.