Arabic version: ألبانيزي يتهرب من أسئلة الصين قبيل منتدى المحيط الهادئ

According to The Guardian, prime minister Anthony Albanese shut down questions about China’s alleged “bullying” tactics against Palau before the Pacific Islands Forum meeting. The questions followed a warning by the Chinese envoy on Monday night that there would be “consequences” if Taiwanese officials attended the forum.

Asked whether the tensions had been a distraction, Albanese repeatedly declined to engage with the premise. “I’m not distracted, I’m focused on members of the Pacific family and that is precisely the meetings that I have scheduled here,” he said. “I’m Australia’s spokesperson and I speak on behalf of Australia.”

When asked whether there had been any “outside interference”, Albanese again kept his response focused on the regional meeting, saying he was “concentrating on the Pacific Islands Forum here”. Albanese was in Palau with climate change and energy minister Chris Bowen and defence industry minister Pat Conroy.

China’s warning over Taiwan’s presence was one of several developments reported before the forum. The live updates also said SBS had secured Australian broadcast rights for the 2030 Fifa World Cup, which will be jointly hosted by Morocco, Portugal and Spain. SBS managing director Jane Palfreyman said every match would be available live and free on SBS.

Elsewhere, a vaccination program has started for 350 captive orange-bellied parrots ahead of their summer breeding season. The critically endangered species has a wild population of 90 to 100, while its population had fallen to 17 wild individuals in 2016.