CANBERRA, Australia — Prime Minister Scott Morrison has dismissed concerns over Beijing’s interest in building a $39 billion (US$29.4 billion) city just 200 kilometres (124 miles) from the tip of Australia. The proposed site is an island named Daru in the southwest of Papua New Guinea (PNG), which lies to the north of Australia. Morrison downplayed concerns on Friday, calling them “speculation.” “I have a very good relationship with Prime Minister Marape of Papua New Guinea, and we regularly discuss the various pressures in our region, and I think we are very much on the same page of those issues,” Morrison said. The proposed development would span 100 square kilometres (38 square miles) and include an international seaport, free-trade zone, and agricultural and manufacturing facilities. It will be built under a Build-Own-Transfer or BOT arrangement, where China would own the asset for an unspecified period of management before it was turned …