The twenty-one islands atoll is strategically important for the defence of Australia.

A chain of twenty-one coral atolls located off the coast of eastern Australia are about to be sold to Chinese interests in what would be an “extremely concerning purchase,” says Sky News host Chris Smith.

The group is near one of Australia’s main shipping routes, the Jomard Passage, and three submarine internet cables, which connect the Australian mainland to the rest of the world, he said.

The Jomard Passage is located between the Jomard Islands and Duperré Islets - Bramble Haven Islands. Connects the Solomon Sea to the north with the Coral Sea to the south. Also known as Jomard Pass, Jomard Channel or Jomard Entrance.

This is not the kind of predicament Australia wants to be in if there is any conflict in the region involving China.

During the Battle of the Coral Sea after midnight on May 7, 1942 at midnight the Imperial Japanese Navy cover group, commanded by Rear-Admiral Goto, including the Shoho, four heavy cruisers and one destroyer plus the invasion group of eleven transports attempted to reach the Jomard Passage then onward to Port Moresby but were engaged by U.S. Navy carrier aircraft and aborted the operation.