Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (
Resource-rich Australia has been eager to boost its ties with energy-hungry China's expanding economy, and the two countries will further cement their relationship when Wen arrives in Australia today for a three-day visit.
But Canberra's willingness to embrace Beijing has highlighted a divergence with a wary US, which has questioned China's military and economic ambitions and chosen to pursue a nuclear energy deal with India.
"Australia's trying to tread a tightrope between our various trading interests and our strategic alliances," Monash University political analyst Dennis Woodward said.
Australia has long battled to balance a strong alliance with the US with its geographical location in Asia, home to its two largest trading partners, Japan and China. Canberra and Beijing are also negotiating a free trade agreement.
A US deal with India this month -- under which New Delhi will separate its military and civil nuclear facilities, and open civilian plants to inspections in return for US nuclear fuel and technology -- is seen by some analysts as a US bid to build India as a regional counterweight to China.
"We particularly appreciate Australia's view that China's development presents an opportunity, not a threat," Wen told the Australian newspaper in remarks preceding his trip, which some analysts have interpreted as a veiled swipe at the US.
Wen said he had "closely followed" recent security talks between Australia, Japan and the US, during which US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice voiced concern about China potentially becoming a "negative force" in the Asia region.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard has said that he is not "starry eyed" about Wen's visit, and that while Canberra and Beijing enjoy ties envied by other world leaders, the two countries still have differences.
The highest profile trade issue will be China's desire to buy Australian uranium so it can rapidly expand its nuclear power generation capabilities and lessen reliance on polluting fossil fuels. Canberra only allows uranium sales to members of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty once they agree on a separate bilateral safeguards deal.
A supplementary agreement is also expected to be signed allowing Chinese companies to directly explore and mine uranium in Australia, although Howard said such arrangements would be subject to regular foreign investment controls.
Wen said in the Australian interview that he would propose regular leadership meetings between Australian and Chinese officials in order to maintain a smooth bilateral relationship. Only the US currently has such an arrangement with Beijing.
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Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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