(French Island), a French island in Victoria, has reportedly been acquired by Wufu Group, a Chinese elderly industry conglomerate, and intends to turn the island into a tourist destination for Chinese tourists. Islanders worry that hard-won seclusion could be broken by ambitious Chinese tourism developers.
It is reported that France is 65 kilometers away from Melbourne, the island has only one prison, originally used to hold lower-security prisoners. Up to now, the island has no water and electricity, and all depends on the islanders to be self-sufficient. There are no tavern and other entertainment facilities on the island, and there is only one department store for shopping. In addition, the island does not have any general legislation, neither local council taxes nor police enforcement. France is the recluse's paradise, and the islanders enjoy the island's isolated life and do not want to see any change.
Recently, islanders worried that hard-won seclusion could be broken by ambitious Chinese tourism developers.
On June 15 last year, the group bought 550acres of land on the island for A $4 million, becoming the owner of the island, along with an old 80-cell prison on the island, according to the Wofu group's official website. Xu Ziyun, chairman of the board of directors of the five Fook Group, said he plans to turn it into a new base for healthy old-age vacation tourism, with residential facilities, hot springs, museums, business centers and traditional Chinese medicine plantations as important components. Wufu said it would retain the site of the French island prison and consider rebuilding the island's docks to facilitate visitors.
In response to the islanders' concerns, Burke (Phil Bock), who is in charge of the French trade, said the island's 119 residents were indeed uneasy about what Chinese developers were going to do on the island, the Times reported. Danford Group has not proposed any specific development plan, and all construction applications will be approved by Victoria government. Burke said the island would not become a Disneyland-like (Disneyland) amusement park, and the last thing the islanders would like to see was that the island would become as crowded and crowded as Philip (Phillip Island).