SYDNEY, Australia – East Timor has not discussed military cooperation with China in its upgrade of diplomatic ties, President Jose Ramos-Horta said, adding Australia and Indonesia can “sleep at peace” because the island nation won’t be a security concern to its neighbors.
The agreement also provided scope for funding from China including government and commercial loans to East Timor, he said. China struck a security pact with Solomon Islands, 2,000km to Australia’s north-east last year, heightening Canberra’s wariness about Beijing’s naval ambitions. “We would never bring in a foreign element into Timor Leste that would be viewed by the rest of ASEAN as endangering ASEAN policy of neutrality or peace and security,” he said.
China’s support was primarily in infrastructure including government buildings, finance, agriculture and health, he said. East Timor is looking to start producing natural gas from its Greater Sunrise fields around 2030, which will be critical to the Southeast Asia island nation’s economy.