Aussie MPs visiting Taiwan
Australia’s leader downplays the trip, describing it as another backbench visit.
Australia’s leader downplays the trip, describing it as another backbench visit.
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — A bipartisan group of Australian members of parliament is set to visit Taiwan, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed Saturday, risking China's ire just as their icy relations appeared to thaw.
Albanese sought to play down the trip's significance when asked about a Weekend Australian newspaper report that the politicians were leaving for Taiwan on Sunday, the first such trip in more than three years.
"There have been backbench visits to Taiwan for a long time. This is another one. This isn't a government visit," he told reporters during a visit to rural South Australia.
The Australian leader said both major political parties supported the "one-China" policy, which recognizes Beijing, not Taiwan, as the government of China, while also backing the status quo on the self-ruled island.
Asked about the aims of the Australian parliamentarians' trip, he said: "I have no idea. I'm not going. You should ask them."
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The Weekend Australian said six politicians, including members of the ruling centre-left Labor Party and the conservative opposition Liberal Party, would visit Taiwan for five days with support from Taipei.
The Australians were scheduled to meet President Tsai Ing-wen, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu and other senior officials, the paper said, with the aim of conveying a desire for peace in the Asia-Pacific region.
