By Sandra O'Malley
NineMsn.com.au
Tue Mar 24 2009
Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce has called on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to reveal details of a meeting with one of China's most senior officials.
On Saturday, the prime minister met Li Changchun at The Lodge in Canberra, at the start of a four-nation tour for the fifth most senior Chinese Communist Party official.
Why would Comrade Rudd ban Australian media, from covering his "briefing" (aka.taking instructions from) the fifth most important man in the Communist Party of China, Li Changchun, before Comrade Rudd set off to visit Comrade Obama?
While Mr Rudd's office released minimal information about the engagement, China's official CCTV news network had a more detailed report.
Mr Rudd's office was not immediately available for additional comment.
The visit comes as the Foreign Investment Review Board mulls state-owned Chinalco's $30 billion grab for a larger share of Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto.
Treasurer Wayne Swan will make the ultimate decision about whether the Chinalco bid is in Australia's national interest and if it will get the go-ahead.
The perceived lack of information about Mr Li's visit has aroused suspicion in some quarters of the Australian media and Senator Joyce has accused Mr Rudd of being downright sneaky.
"My concern is if Mr Rudd is doing side deals to ... secure (votes for his bid on) the UN Security Council," Senator Joyce told AAP.
"Here we have something so palpably of concern to the Australian electorate that is being swept under the carpet.
"I find it outrageous we have to find out from a Chinese source who is having lunch with our prime minister."
Australia is trying to secure enough votes for its 2013-14 bid for a temporary seat on the Security Council. It is taking on Luxembourg and Finland for the two available seats.
Senator Joyce said the easiest way for Mr Rudd to clear up speculation on whether he was lobbied about Chinalco was to disclose what was discussed at the lunch.
"Mr Rudd is being totally and utterly sneaky," he said.
"He is not being forthright and transparent in the way he is acting.
"Why are people concerned about this? It is because he would have been discussing handing sovereignty of our nation to another nation."
According to CCTV, Mr Li told Mr Rudd both countries should maintain high-level exchanges and he extended an invitation to the prime minister and other Australian leaders to visit China.
"(Mr Li) suggested the two countries expand economic cooperation on the basis of mutual benefits," the network reported.
"And Li also suggested that both countries maintain close consultation on major issues such as the financial crisis and climate change."
Mr Rudd, a Mandarin speaker, praised the stimulus measures that China had adopted to deal with the financial crisis, CCTV reported.
The Spin on the US visit
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