FED: Gov't responsible for increased China interference: opp'n

AAP General News (Australia)
08-21-2009
FED: Gov't responsible for increased China interference: opp'n

CANBERRA, Aug 21 AAP - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's familiarity with Beijing has led
to an unwelcome situation in which China believes it can tell Australia what to do, the
opposition says.

Liberal frontbencher Christopher Pyne said the Rudd government's professed special
links with China had certainly transformed the relationship, but for the worse.

He said the saga surrounding exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer's visit earlier this
month was an example of China attempting to flex its newfound muscles.

"Unfortunately China is believing it can influence activities in Australia, whether
they're film festivals, whether they're who the National Press Club can have speak," Mr
Pyne told ABC Radio on Friday.

"That is an unwelcome development and I think it flows from the familiarity that this
government believed that it had with China."

Mr Rudd mishandled the relationship from the beginning, Mr Pyne said.

"When he spoke Mandarin at the Beijing University, he became far too familiar with
a government that is essentially a very important trading partner, but still a totalitarian
regime."

AAP cj/ldj

KEYWORD: CHINA AUST PYNE

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