Australia's bilateral relationship with China, hitherto regarded as warm and productive, has become decidedly problematic since the arrest last month of Australian mining executive Stern Hu in Shanghai. This week, it assumed even more of a chilly appearance.
An editorial in the China Daily blamed ''Canberra'' for allowing the ''forces seeking to keep the two sides apart'' to thrive, and the Beijing-based Global Times welcomed China's decision to cancel the visit of vice-foreign minister He Yafei to the Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Cairns earlier this month. Minister for Resources and Energy Martin Ferguson, in Beijing to sign a $50 billion liquid natural gas deal, was apparently snubbed in his efforts to secure talks with senior Chinese officials, and Australia's ambassador to Beijing, Geoff Raby, was suddenly returned to Canberra in all likelihood because of the growing tensions, though Prime Minister Kevin Rudd insisted the envoy's trip was a routine matter.
Sensing an opportunity to score political points, foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop claimed the relationship was at crisis point and that it was Rudd's fault because he had chosen to ''grandstand'' over the issue of Stern Hu's arrest and had bungled by granting a visa to Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer.
For more, pick up a copy of today's Canberra Times
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