Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) arrived in Australia yesterday amid tight security aimed at preventing protesters overshadowing the push to cement the burgeoning trade relationship between Canberra and Beijing.
Hu touched down at Sydney Airport, where he will meet business and government leaders before heading to Canberra and becoming the first Asian leader to address a joint sitting of federal parliament.
The arrival came just hours before US President George W Bush was due to land in Canberra, beginning unprecedented simultaneous visits by the leaders of two countries that Canberra believes could underpin Australia's economic prosperity well into the future.
PHOTO: AFP
Treasurer Peter Costello said he hoped Hu's four-day visit would result in the signing of a Trade and Economic Framework agreement, generally regarded as a precursor to a free trade agreement with China.
Costello said that the visit was a "wonderful opportunity" for two naturally complementary economies to come closer -- with China as the global economy's emerging superpower and Australia as a resource-rich continent able to provide raw materials for China's expansion.
"China is going to be the growth economy of the world and it's in our region," he told reporters. "More importantly, we have a lot of what China wants to import, particularly in the energy and minerals area.
"Now, developing that relationship with China will be an enormous benefit to Australia -- as China comes out of the regulated command economy and becomes more and more a liberalized economy, it's going to grow better."
Australian authorities were taking no chances that Tibetan independence protesters and members of the banned Falun Gong religious sect could disrupt Hu's arrival.
He was greeted on the tarmac at Sydney airport behind a tight security screen, with the public locked out but about 60 hand-picked supporters from Australia's Chinese community waving flags and holding banners.
Prime Minister John Howard and Governor-General Michael Jeffery laid on the red-carpet treatment, including a 21-gun salute and military honor guard.
Hu said China and Australia had a long relationship marked by expanding cooperation and his visit aimed to "enhance friendship, expand the common ground and facilitate common prosperity."
"I look forward to an in-depth exchange of views with Australian leaders on the ways to further promote China-Australian relations of all-round cooperation and on regional and international issues of common interest," he said.
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,
MIGRATION: The Supreme Court justices said they were not deciding whether Trump could legally use the Alien Enemies Act to deport undocumented migrants US President Donald Trump on Friday lashed out at the US Supreme Court after it blocked his bid to resume deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members, saying the justices are “not allowing me to do what I was elected to do.” Trump’s berating of the high court, in a post on Truth Social, came after it dealt another setback to his attempt to swiftly expel alleged Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang members using an obscure wartime law, the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA). Trump has been at loggerheads with the judiciary ever since he returned to the White House, venting
RSS