Beijing snubs Canberra over Uighur visit

Australia will be regretful - but not rattled - if China keeps up a diplomatic
freeze in protest at its decision to allow Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer into the
country.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith on Tuesday confirmed China had cancelled a visit by
junior foreign minister He Yafei earlier this month in response to Canberra's
decision.
Ms Kadeer, the exiled leader of the Uighur people of Xinjiang autonomous region of
western China, is regarded by Beijing as a terrorist.
China lobbied Australia to deny her a visa to attend a screening of a film about her
life at the Melbourne International Film Festival.
Mr Smith refused the request, saying he had no reason to interfere in the
immigration process.
"China was most unhappy with her visit and as a consequence of her visit they
indicated to Australia that the proposed visit of Australia of vice minister He ...
would not occur and that China would be represented by an ambassador," he told
parliament.
Mr Smith downplayed the significance of the snub, which comes amid diplomatic
tensions created by the detention of Rio Tinto iron ore executive Stern Hu.
In the days after the detention of Mr Hu, Canberra was playing catch-up on the
sensitive issue due to Beijing's reluctance to provide information during official
meetings.
Instead, the Rudd government was left to rely on a drip-feed of news from official
Chinese websites and foreign ministry press conferences.
Mr Smith said difficulties would occur in bilateral relationships from time to time.
"These difficulties need to be managed carefully and successfully as Australia is
currently managing difficulties that we have in our relationship with China, in
particular the visit of Rebiya Kadeer to Australia and the Stern Hu case," he said.
Mr Smith hinted the government may be anticipating further action from China.
"If of course China takes any further action in response to our decision that will
be for us a matter of regret and we will deal with that sensibly," Mr Smith said.
The Chinese embassy was non-committal about whether further visits could be affected.
An embassy spokesman would not comment about the cancellation of the August visit by
Mr He.
But he wouldn't rule out the possibility of further retaliation when asked whether
any future meetings might be cancelled.
"It's hard to say at this time," the spokesman said.
Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull blamed Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's "ham-fisted"
approach to China for the impasse.
Mr Rudd, a Mandarin-speaker and a former diplomat, is a renowned Sinophile who has
cultivated close ties with Beijing since winning office.
But those connections have seemingly counted for little during the Stern Hu affair.
"(Relations) are at the lowest ebb they have been for many, many years and Mr Rudd
has mishandled our relations with China ... (after) he boasted of his connections
with China," Mr Turnbull told reporters.