PM: I just had a very good meeting with the President of China Hu Jintao, which ran for nearly an hour. It was the second time that we have met, of course, we have met previously at the time of APEC last year. And it was good to renew my personal acquaintance with him and to build what I hope, will become a good strong working personal relationship with the Chinese President for the years ahead.
I also thanked him for the courtesy which the Chinese Government has extended to myself and my delegation during the period that we have been in China. I used this meeting to emphasise that from Australia's point of view, we are committed to building a stronger, deeper, broader, Australia-China relationship into the future.
President Hu committed China to building and constructing a new chapter in the Australia-China relationship as well. We both agreed that this would be good and important for both our country's interests as well as the interests of our peoples into the future as we share a common grid and as we share a common world. Specifically, the President emphasised and reemphasised the importance attached to the recommencement of the bilateral free trade negotiations which I discussed with Premier Wen Jiabao in Beijing.
He also reemphasised the importance which China attached to the New Services Round Table at a ministerial level which was also subject to the decision which we reached in Beijing in the bilateral discussions with the Chinese Premier.
A large part of the conversation with President Hu focussed on climate change. He drew attention to the joint statement which we had released in Beijing and specifically pointed to its content and the prospects which it contains for further cooperation between us. President Hu emphasised Australia's strength and experience in relevant technologies associated with climate change and indicated that China was to draw on those strengths and technologies into the future.
I emphasised from the Australian Government's point of view that within that framework we wanted to partner with China in developing further clean coal technology and setting ambitious goals for us both as countries which have significant roles to play when it comes to coal in getting this technology right and getting it right as soon as possible. Beyond those specific areas, of bilateral economic cooperation, we also discussed Tibet and the Olympics and also we discussed foreign policy in terms of the future of the six party talks and where that might go to in the near and long term.
Both the President and myself underlined the importance of a successful and early conclusion to the Six Party Talks on the Korean nuclear question. The President rightly emphasised that this was the urgent and critical need. We also discussed where the Six Party Talks mechanism might evolve to in the future, in terms of a wider security dialogue across East Asia, similar to discussions I had at the beginning of this visit abroad with the US administration in Washington.
The Chinese President indicated he would continue to be in close contact with the Australian Government on the evolution of this. And he welcomed Australia's continued positive and active role on the question of political security and wider security in East Asia.
I concluded this visit to China and this visit abroad where the visit began some time ago and that is emphasising the absolute importance for Australia of engaging with the global economy. Of engaging with the challenges represented by the instability in global financial markets and by doing whatever I could to enhance Australia's interests in terms of the current negotiations on free trade, globally through the Doha Round, bilaterally through this FTA.
For Australia, this is important, critical work because being members of a global economic order which is now under some stress, and secondly, with us with critical economic interests to pursue with the country which is now our major trading partner, I believe this visit has been worthwhile against those measures.
Happy to take you questions.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible)
PM: There was nothing in the position which I put or which the Chinese President put which differed from the public positions that you have seen so far.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible)
PM: I am better informed Paul, about what thinking underpins President Musharruf's attitude to the engagement of his own security forces both within the north west frontier provinces and also his diplomatic engagement in Afghanistan itself. We want to sustain a high level dialogue with President Musharruf and we propose to do that through our representatives in Islamabad. Because for me this is as important as is the domestic military and civilian strategy we pursue in Afghanistan itself and particularly given that we have got more than 1000 Australian troops whose lives are on the line.
JOURNALIST: The Chinese seriously (inaudible) when you say to significant human rights problems, what specifically are you talking about that you believe are those problems and secondly, the opposition back home is saying that you could play a role as an intermediary between the Dalia Lama and the Chinese leadership. What do you think about that?
PM: Well the first thing I would say is that I will play whatever role it is practicable for me to do. I think it is very important not to overstate these things. Where I can assist at the margins of complex international negotiations in general and foreign policy and specifically on sensitive questions like this which obviously have an impact in relation to the upcoming Olympics - if I can assist at the margins I will do so, but I think it is very important not to overstate the potential which we have to play.
JOURNALIST: Are you inclined to take up the offer of President Musharruf's invitation to visit Pakistan?
PM: I cannot do that this year. I don't think that is possible. At least I can't according to current timetabling but I will certainly be engaging other Ministers on this question because I regard this as very important.
We have more than 1000 troops on the ground in Afghanistan. It is a very difficult security environment. Half of the challenge lies in what is happening domestically within Afghanistan itself and the other half lies in whether in fact the Taliban and Al Qaeda are attaining any form of safe haven across the border and what is being done about that. This is important, therefore you will have both ministerial engagement on this with Government of Pakistan, but other high level engagement in Islamabad itself.
JOURNALIST: Did you discuss with President Hu Jintao the issue of talks (inaudible) iron ore, coal, etc?
PM: No. What we talked about was the importance of Australia being a long term, secure, reliable supplier for China's long term energy needs. And that to be in the framework of a broader, deeper economic relationship between Australia and China. Consistent with the remarks I have made in Beijing with other Chinese leaders, we believe that on the one hand, within a long term economic relationship with China we can say clearly and unequivocally that we are a reliable, long term supplier. And two, on the operational mechanics of that relationship, it will be conducted on commercial grounds.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible)
PM: Well my position has never changed and that is that boycotts of the Olympic Games don't work. That has never been my view, it is not my view and it won't be my view in the future.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible) what about the significant human rights problems in the west (inaudible)
PM: Well I have been a student of human rights in China over many, many years. And if you looked at the evolution of human rights practices in Tibet, whether it is in the 1950's or 60's or 70's there is an accumulation of problems which have underpinned certain recent events. It is quite plain that that has occurred. If you were to look carefully at the impact of practices in Tibet during the period of the cultural revolution, each of these have had a long term legacy effect in Tibet. And therefore recent events have occurred very much within that context.
Secondly, as we have said consistently, it is important for all parties, in terms of recent events in (inaudible) to exercise restraint and again for all parties to pursue the avenue of peaceful dialogue.
JOURNALIST: Mr Rudd, when you were assessed (inaudible)
PM: Well we have a new government in Pakistan. What was interesting in our meetings with the President of Pakistan was the attendance of the Foreign Minister and the Defence Minister who were from different political parties. Therefore this is a new government in the making. I was keen also to establish contact with those ministers as they represent a party which has not been in government for a long, long time.
It is too early to tell how that particular government will settle in, in terms of its internal arrangements. Given President Musharruf's historical connection with the defence forces and the security forces, I still believe it is entirely appropriate to engage him directly on these defence and security questions because it is those agencies which have the most direct impact on what is going on in the North West Frontier, in the tribal areas, but also through their diplomacy, what is occurring in Afghanistan itself. But because it is a newly formed government, we intend to intensify our diplomatic and political engagement with Islamabad because I take this very seriously as a key part of the overall Afghanistan equation. And we need to know exactly what is happening and satisfy our own minds on that score.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible)
PM: Ah no, cricket was not discussed in the bilaterals that I can recall. But I think I said to Pakistan media as I walked out the door, we look forward to a long term cricketing relationship with Pakistan.
JOURNLAIST: Prime Minister it has been a long haul, how are you feeling?
PM: I am feeling very chipper, I notice there is a few coughs and splutters around here. So a medicine cabinet will be dispensed by Lachlan Harris afterwards. He has a combination of Berocca, aspirin and various other antibiotics should any of you need them.
JOURNALIST: What do you feel like?
PM: I am feeling fine actually. I think, look, I mean, the course of this visit, staff mentioned to me before, we have probably caught up in formal bilateral meetings with 13 or 14 heads of government. Informally, with probably more than that. And remember, what we set ourselves as objectives here was to advance Australia's global economic interests, including financial markets and in trade. I believe we have been consistently doing that through the time that I have been away.
Also on climate change, and I believe the agreement to work with both the Europeans and now the Chinese in a much more focussed way on the climate change challenge is a significant advance for us. We also set ourselves an objective of doing what we could on the security and counterterrorism front, particularly with reference to our troops in Afghanistan and that has been a constant focus of talks back in Washington and in London and in Bucharest and also with President Musharruf here.
And then, frankly, it is also having a set of working level personal relationships with heads of government around the world which can now be drawn upon by me as Prime Minister of Australia given the uncertainties which the year inevitably will contain.
JOURNALIST: Mr Rudd did you talk to President Hu about the (inaudible)
PM: What I found significant on the financial services front was that President Hu chose explicitly to reemphasise on several occasions during our discussion just now, the importance of a decision to establish a ministerial round table on services. In my representations to President Hu, (inaudible) ran through the obvious strengths of the economy in terms of energy, resources, raw materials. I said, again that we believe that this relationship, when it comes to the economy, needs to be advanced on three pillars. One is in the resources and energy and raw materials sector. The second is our respective markets for manufactured goods. And thirdly, critically for us, to broaden the economic relationship in the direction of financial services.
I spent a lot of time briefing the President on the strength of the Australian financial services sector and why access to the Chinese market for us was a critical play idea for the future. We need a broad based economic relationship and when I spoke therefore about us wanting a broader deeper and stronger relationship with China, in the economic dimensions of that, that is precisely what I mean.