SYDNEY –Timor-Leste’s President Jose Ramos-Horta said yesterday that China could help fund a vast fossil fuel project seen as crucial to the nation’s economic future, dismissing Western concerns over Beijing’s growing influence.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Canberra, the Nobel Peace Prize co-laureate said: “Of course, China” could be involved in the Greater Sunrise project, which aims to tap trillions of cubic feet of natural gas.
The project, located in waters between East Timor and Australia, has long been touted as a joint venture between the two countries.
But exploration has been stalled for years due to disputes over maritime boundaries and whether the gas should be refined in Australia or East Timor.
Ramos-Horta is pushing hard to gain foreign financing and to have liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities built in his impoverished half-island nation, seeing it as a potential economic game-changer.
He told reporters that a number of Asia-Pacific countries could be involved in the project – including Japan and South Korea – but also mooted China’s involvement, aware it was likely to raise hackles in Canberra.
“Of course, China [could be involved]. It’s a pipeline, we are not talking about maritime security. It’s just a pipeline. China would just be an investor,” he said.
Timor-Leste is East Timor’s official name. – AFP, MPD
