Aussie lawmaker apologises to China for his on-air tirade

CANBERRA — Australian mining magnate-turned-lawmaker Clive Palmer has apologised to China’s ambassador to Australia over an extraordinary tirade on national television in which he called the Chinese “bastards” and “mongrels”, setting off a firestorm between Canberra and Beijing.

Following the volatile multimillionaire’s outburst on Australian Broadcasting Corp’s Q&A programme, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and other government ministers accused him of threatening Australia’s relationship with its biggest trading partner and distanced themselves from his views. Mr Palmer, meanwhile, largely avoided commenting on the issue.

China is Australia’s biggest trade partner, with two-way trade approaching US$150 billion (S$187.3 billion), representing more than 20 per cent of Australia’s total trade.

The apology, in the form of a letter to Ambassador Ma Zhaoxu, came after China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned his remarks, calling them “absurd”, “irresponsible” and “full of ignorance and prejudice”.

Mr Palmer released the letter dated Aug 25 to the public yesterday.

“I regret any hurt or anguish such comments may have caused any party and I look forward to greater understanding for peace and cooperation in the future,” Mr Palmer, whose Palmer United Party holds the balance of power in parliament’s upper house, wrote in the letter. “I most sincerely apologise for any insult to Chinese people caused by any of the language I used.”

The Chinese embassy yesterday said it had received Mr Palmer’s letter of apology and issued another statement. “Palmer’s insulting remarks on China could by no means represent the Australian government and parliament, let alone its people,” the statement said. “The healthy and stable development of China-Australia relations is in the fundamental interests of the two countries and peoples, and cannot be overturned by any individual,” the statement added.

Mr Palmer had insisted after the furore that the live-to-air comments were directed at a Chinese company he is battling in court, not the Chinese government or people.

The tirade began when the 60-year-old was questioned about a legal dispute between his mining company Mineralogy and its Chinese state-owned partner, CITIC Pacific Mining. CITIC alleged in court that Mr Palmer siphoned A$12 million (S$13.9 million) to fund his party’s election campaign.

Mr Palmer said his companies were owed “about A$500 million by the communist Chinese government that doesn’t want to pay”. He said he was counter-suing.

“I don’t mind standing up against the Chinese bastards and stopping them from doing it,” Mr Palmer said.

He said his companies already had three federal and supreme court judgments “against these Chinese mongrels”. “I’m saying this because they’re communist, they shoot their own people, they haven’t got a justice system and they want to take over this country, and we’re not going to let them do it,” he said on the programme.

Mr Palmer has been a thorn in the side of Mr Abbott’s government since his party won three seats in Australia’s senate at last September’s elections. After holding the new senate hostage over the repeal of Australia’s controversial carbon tax for weeks as he haggled for concessions, he has now vowed to block the budget in its current form. AGENCIES