Australian FM warns East Timorese against Chinese debt

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s foreign minister on a visit to East Timor is warning the nation against going into “unsustainable debt” to the Chinese on a major gas project. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Thursday she discussed with East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta the Greater Sunrise gas field that lies beneath the seabed that separates their two countries. Ramos-Horta said last month he was prepared to turn to China to fund the Tasi Mane infrastructure project that would pipe Greater Sunrise gas to East Timor. She said Australian development assistance came with a “spirit of wanting” East Timor to be resilient, which can be undercut by deep debt burdens.