MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS

HON ALEXANDER DOWNER, MP

TRANSCRIPTION: PROOF COPY E & OE

DATE: 18 March 2006

TITLE: Doorstop Interview Trilateral Strategic Dialogue, Sydney

ALEXANDER DOWNER:  you right? It’s too dangerous to make jokes about those things.  Good afternoon everybody, we just need a bit of space. Are

Look, let me just say we’ve had a - fi-ankly - very successful inaugural meeting of the  Trilateral Strategic Dialogue, as we now call it. The Trilateral Strategic Dialogue has met  for the first ever at ministerial level - it has met of course in the past at senior officials level  -but this has been a very good opportunity for the three of our countries to get together and

discuss a range of global and regional issues.

We’re determined to continue our cooperation - not just by way of further and periodic  meetings -but also looking for ways of expanding cooperation between the three of us. An  example of that is in the area of international aid, especially in the Asia Pacific region.

If we can co-ordinate effectively - at least in a significant respect - our aid projects in the  region, and our aid effort in the region, that obviously is going to provide for much better  outcomes.

We discussed, clearly, issues like Iraq and Afghanistan, the Middle East, Iran, we discussed  regional architecture - that is APEC, the East Asia Summit, the ASEAN Regional Forum.  We had discussions about India, China, North Korea, and also Burma and of course had  quite a long discussion about Indonesia, and a very supportive discussion about Indonesia.

So I just want to say it’s been a great pleasure to have Condi Rice here for a few days, and  Taro Aso, the Foreign Minister of Japan here today, and I’ll be having a bilateral meeting  with him later this afternoon, and dinner with him this evening. But these people are all  good friends of Australia, and this Trilateral Strategic Dialogue I think, has got off to a

flying start.

QUESTION: Mr Downer, can you expand a bit on what you exactly discussed on China?

Inquiries: (02) 6277 7500 1

DOWNER:  different language, that we want to have a constructive relationship with China. We wish  China to participate fully in the affairs of the region and the international community, and  we talked a bit about the different aspects of our relationships with China. But I think we all  recognise, as I’ve said before, China is not the only, but the major growing power in the  region. Inevitably therefore, there’s going to be a focus on China, and what the growth of  China - economically as well as politically - is going to mean for the region.

Of course. Look, I think we all pretty much agree, even if we use

And we all are determined to make sure that that works, that China’s contribution to the  region is a construction contribution. Obviously, for our countries - as for the rest of the  region - we want China to pull its weight as a good regional participant. An example of that  is on the issue of North Korea. China has been hosting the so-called six- party talks, and

China has been doing a good job working with the North Koreans - if I could put it that way  -to encourage them to participate constructively in the six party talk process.

I use that as an example of how China can be a constructive partner in the region. The  Americans obviously, as they’ve said already, are concerned about not just the issue of the  growth in military expenditure, but the question of transparency. It’s important that China  understands that transparency is a very important part of developing a military capability, in

strategic strength - that people understand all of that.

QUESTION: Was there any talk to tone down Australia’s relations with China, given the  mineral exports fuelling that development of their military?

DOWNER:  military, that would be drawing a long bow, but the point I’d make is that obviously for  Australia, China’s growth is important to our economy, we do do very well out of the  growth of the Chinese economy, because we’re a resource-rich and an energy-rich country.

Well, I don’t know that our mineral exports fuel the development of their

There was some discussion - not so much about that - but a discussion about the need for  countries like China and India, as their economies grow - as well as Japan, which is the  second biggest economy in the world - to have access to raw materials, and in particular  energy resources, and the difficult issues associated with that. We’ve been doing some work  on that. We’re looking at holding what some in diplomacy called a “one-and-a-half track”  seminar: that is, an officials and people from the academic community seminar - Americans,  Australians and Japanese - to talk about the issue of energy resources, and the shortage of  energy resources in the world, and the implications of that for all of us, and obviously for  international stability and security.

Inquiries: (02) 6277 7500 2

That was identified in the discussions as being a very important issue. Obviously Australia is  a significant player in that, because Australia is a significant supplier of energy resources, as  well as other raw materials.

QUESTION: Did the United States ask us [indistinct] supply uranium?

DOWNER:  know, a couple of days ago.  No. There wasn’t any discussion about that today, but there was, as you

QUESTION: In your bilateral talks this afternoon with the Japanese, I understand they’re  going to be asking for a deepening of the strategic dialogue between Australia and Japan,  and they’d like to have more regular formal meetings. Is that something Australia would be  open to?

DOWNER: Look, we’ve - they’re right, I mean we have seen a - the interesting thing  about our relationship with Japan is that for a long time, it was a resources relationship, and  an economic relationship. I’m not downplaying the importance of that component of any  relationship, in fact I’m often accused of up-playing that aspect of our diplomacy too much,  but it’s obviously been the foundation of the modem Australia-Japan relationship.

But you know, as time has gone on, I think particularly over the last five or six years, we’ve  seen a strengthening of the political and strategic relationship between Australia and Japan.  It’s symbolised today by the joint deployment of Australian and Japanese forces in  Samawah, in Al-Muthanna Province in Iraq, and we have had a lot - I mean I, as the Foreign  Minister -have had increasing contact with the Japanese Foreign Minister as time has gone

on, and with the present Japanese Foreign Minister, Taro Aso. He hasn’t been the Foreign  Minister for long, but I’ve seen him several times, and I think we have a very good personal  relationship, and we look forward to building that relationship.

QUESTION: Did you discuss the further development of their deployment?

DOWNER:  there was obviously discussions about many aspects of the Iraq issue, and I’m not getting  into those kinds of issues publicly. You’ll have to ask the Japanese to talk about those kind  of things.

Well, I’m not going to talk about Iraq much beyond just what I’ve said, and

QUESTION: [Indistinct]

DOWNER: You can ask him.

QUESTION: The Prime Minister [indistinct] do you think given the state of China and  Japanese relations and this dialogue - are you concerned that this dialogue could be seen by

Inquiries: (02) 6277 7500 3

Beijing as the beginning of some sort of [indistinct] of democracy focused excessively on  China, particularly of what you’ve just said about deepening Australia and Japanese  relations?

DOWNER:  point, look, it’s natural that countries that have a lot in common, like Australia, Japan and  the United States, spend a lot of time talking to each other. Australia and Japan - we all  know about the United States -but Australia and Japan are liberal democracies. We’re

developed economies and - we’re at opposite ends -but we’re in the east Asian hemisphere.  As my predecessor used to say, “We’re in the East Asian region, broadly defined.”

Well, I think you know, that people have argued this. I’ve always made the

We share forums together - from the East Asia Summit to APEC and so on - and we have a  very strong economic relationship. So you take all of those things into account, it’s  inevitable that we’ll spend a lot of time talking to each other. And that’s only natural. It’s  not for China to feel that we’re ganging up on China, or that Australia is suddenly changing  its policy on China. Most of the time critics say we are too close to China, we’re not robust  enough in criticising China.

So we certainly don’t have a policy of, well, containment. Clearly we don’t - of trying to  constrain China or working with other countries against Chinese interests, or anything like  that - we certainly don’t. This is a very natural relationship - it’s a very natural thing for  Australia, Japan and the United States to meet together periodically, to talk about global  regional issues - and shouldn’t be interpreted as an act of conspiracy against China. Of

course it’s not. And from a Chinese perspective, I mean I know that they would respect the  fact that we like to sit and talk with our bends.

QUESTION: Mr Downer, is China’s human rights issues [indistinct]

DOWNER: We didn’t talk about that today.

QUESTION: Minister, was a strategy about how to deal with Iran through the Security  Council raised at all in the talks?

DOWNER:  today we’ve had extensive discussions about Iran. There’s no doubt about it, all of our  countries are very concerned about the situation. Iran should abandon its decision to  proceed with its so-called research program into uranium enrichment. It should comply with  resolutions of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and fully cooperate with the United  Nations - and more than the United Nations, the broad wishes of the international

community.

Yes, certainly, we had both at the bilateral level with Condi Rice, and also

Inquiries: (02) 6277 7500 4

I mean they should - and we are concerned that they aren’t showing a great deal of intention

to do that - and so we’ve had quite long discussions about how this will be carried through  in the United Nations Security Council, and what - of course Australia and Japan are not  permanent members of the Security Council - what can be done about this outside of the  Security Council as well, that’s obviously consistent with international law.

QUESTION: Mr Downer, [indistinct] about what you signed?

DOWNER:  Wen’s visit today, we’ll just keep the focus on Condi and Taro.  That’s a good two weeks off, it would be terrible to spoil the story of Premier

QUESTION: When will your next ministerial [indistinct)

DOWNER:  other will be - let’s think the three of us will be together at the ASEAN and [indistinct]  regional forum in July, and then we’ll be together in Hanoi at the end of the year. We’ll also  be together at the General Assembly in New York in September, so that is the time that the

Japanese Prime Minister’s term expires as the president of the LDP, and then presumably as  the Prime Minister. So possibly at one of those occasions, we’ll just wait and see.

Well, we haven’t worked that out, I mean the next time we will all see each

[Ends]

Inquiries: (02) 6277 7500 5



