China rebukes Australia, NZ over Taiwan
April 27, 2001

By CNN's Grant Holloway

CANBERRA, Australia (CNN) -- China has rebuked Australian prime minister John Howard over his comments concerning the United States and Taiwan.

And China has warned New Zealand members of parliament to decline invitations to travel to Taiwan to meet senior Taipei government representatives.

Howard on Thursday said he "understood" US President George W Bush's commitment to the military defense of Taiwan.

The Chinese Embassy in Canberra responded, saying the prime minister's comments on the situation were inappropriate and confused right from wrong.

"Well I understand, and I'm sure China and the world understands, the United States' position in relation to Taiwan. It's a fairly long held position and it's not surprising that it should be restated by the new president," Howard told radio listeners.

"From our point of view we urge calm and restraint on everybody. We don't want to see any aggression by China against Taiwan. We don't want to see any wider tension escalate between the United States and China.

"So from our point of view we would like calm and restraint on all sides.''

Chinese embassy spokeswoman Ren Xiaoping says issues relating to Taiwan remain an internal matter for China.

Remarks "very inappropriate"

"At the moment Sino-American relations are at a very sensitive and complicated period of time and we think that prime minister John Howard's remarks were very inappropriate which confuses right from wrong," she said.

"The Chinese embassy are not happy about this.

"We would hope that the Australian Government would do more things that are beneficial to the development of the friendly relations between the two countries."

A spokesperson for John Howard's office told CNN Friday the prime minister would not be responding publicly to the Chinese rebuke.

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Laurie Brereton said in a statement realeased Thursday it was in Australia's national interest to "be active in using all available avenues to encourage China, Taiwan and the United States to avoid unilateral actions which may have adverse security or economic consequences."

"Given our longstanding concern for good relations between our friends, Australia should seek out every opportunity to encourage China and the US to pursue constructive dialogue on the Taiwan question and other issues.

"It is highly desirable that China, Taiwan, and the US all refrain from actions which may exacerbate tensions," Brereton said.

Accused of taking sides
Howard told listeners he thought president Bush had made an impressive start to his presidency.

The Chinese embassy, in response, accused Australia of taking the U.S. side in disagreements between Beijing and Washington.

The conservative Howard government was one of the few to express support for the U.S. president when he abandoned the Kyoto agreement aimed at reducing Greenhouse gas emissions for developing countries, a move which angered European governments in particular.

The Australian administration is also attempting to negotiate a bilateral free trade agreement with the United States which is Australia's second biggest trading partner after Japan.

Australia exported nearly $4 billion of goods and services to the U.S. in 1999-2000, compared with $2.2 billion to Taiwan and $2 billion to China. Taiwan is Australia's eighth-largest trading partner.

New Zealand warning
China has also warned New Zealand parliamentarians against going to Taiwan after a recent visit by five members of parliament who met premier Chang Chun-hsiung and foreign minister Hung-mao Tien, wire services report.

It was the first time a delegation of New Zealand politicians had met top-level Taiwanese leaders while visiting the island.

All five were opposition members of parliament.

Members of the ruling center-left coalition had reportedly been directed to turn down the invitations from the Taipei government. New Zealand adheres to the one-China policy, which recognizes Beijing, not Taipei, as China's government and refrains from official dealings with Taiwan.

Taiwan is, however, one of New Zealand's biggest trading partners.