Cops called on diplomats as tensions boil over

PORT MORESBY: Police were called when Chinese officials attempted to “barge” into the office of Papua New Guinea’s foreign minister as Apec summit tensions boiled over.

The Chinese delegates “tried to barge in” to Rimbink Pato’s Port Moresby office on Saturday, in an eleventh-hour bid to influence a summit draft communique, but were denied entry, three sources said.

“Police were posted outside the minister’s office after they tried to barge in,” one source privy to summit negotiations said, requesting anonymity.

The diplomatic incident came with tensions already high at a summit of Asian-Pacific leaders that has been overshadowed by a spat between the United States and China.

Pato had refused to meet with the delegates, according to a source, who said: “It’s not appropriate for the minister to negotiate solo with the Chinese. The Chinese negotiating officials know this.”

The minister himself sought to downplay the incident, saying: “There wasn’t an issue.”

Asked about the incident, Chinese foreign ministry official Zhang Xiaolong told reporters: “It’s not true. It’s simply not true”.

This is not the first time Chinese officials have been involved in a tense incident at a regional meeting.

At the Pacific Islands Forum in September, Nauru’s president demanded China apologise after its delegation walked out of a meeting when the host refused to let an envoy speak until island leaders had finished.

“They’re not our friends. They just need us for their own purposes,” President Baron Waqa said at the time. — AFP