Fed: PM says Aust. won t overreact about warships in Strait

AAP General News (Australia)
04-29-2001
Fed: PM says Aust. won t overreact about warships in Strait

By Linda McSweeny and Alice Atkins

CANBERRA, April 29 AAP - Sino-Australian relations would not be damaged by a stand-off
between a Chinese ship and an Australian Navy flotilla passing through the Taiwan Strait,
Prime Minister John Howard said today.

The three RAN ships were travelling through the Taiwan Strait when they were questioned
for being in Chinese territorial waters.

The ships, believed to be en route from Korea to Hong Kong on an undisclosed mission,
completed their journey after the interception.

China has lodged an official protest over the incident, but Australia maintains the
ships had a right to pass through the Chinese territorial waters under international laws.

Mr Howard said the ships were engaged in what was called innocent passage through territorial
waters of another country.

"There has been a long standing difference between China's interpretation of what international
law allows in these circumstances and what other countries interpret international law
to allow," he said.

"So there's nothing new in that sense and it's not the kind of thing that countries
should overreact about."

Mr Howard dismissed suggestions Australia had been provocative in allowing the flotilla
to pass through the area at a time of cool relations with the Chinese.

The incident occurred just weeks after the US-China spy plane crisis.

And last week US President George W Bush created another storm after an arms sale to
Taiwan and a promise to back Taiwan in any military conflict with mainland China.

Mr Howard brought Australia into the furore by saying he thought Mr Bush understood
regional tensions.

This prompted the Chinese Embassy in Canberra to label Mr Howard's comments inappropriate
and unhelpful, which in turn led to a Chinese Embassy chief in Canberra being carpeted
for the attack on Mr Howard.

But the Prime Minister said today there was no long-term damage to bilateral relations,
and in the latest incident, the RAN ships had acted entirely in accordance with international
law.

"We won't be overreacting to it," Mr Howard said.

Precise details of the ships and locations were deemed classified by a defence official.

China has long argued that warships should ask for its permission to enter territorial waters.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he was confident the Australian ships followed
correct procedure and his office also denied the incident was a problem for diplomatic
relations between the two countries.

"Our position is our ships were exercising their rights under the international law
of the sea which provides that foreign vessels can pass through another country's territorial
waters, under the right of innocent passage, as it's described," his spokesman said.

"That is what the Australian ships were doing. They were travelling from one point
to another, transiting through the Taiwan Strait.

"We don't see it as being a problem.

"You have to look at these things in the totality of the relationship we have with China."

Meanwhile, Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said the recent tensions between Australia
and China would not disrupt cooperation on combating people smuggling.

Australia had a good relationship with China and dialogue on human rights issues, Mr
Ruddock said.

"It's important in terms of the totality of our relationship that we're able to speak
to China about those issues as an independent nation who has its own policy issues," he
said.

AAP lm/cdh/mo

KEYWORD: CHINA AUST NIGHTLEAD

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