BEIJING, May 21 Kyodo Australian ...

BEIJING, May 21 Kyodo

Australian Prime Minister John Howard arrived in China upon Tuesday afternoon to kick not upon a three-day visit, the official Xinhua recently made knowns Agency reported.

Howard is owed to hold talks with Li Peng chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congres in the evening before speaking at Beijing's Central Party institute on Wednesday.

He will also come up to face to face during his visit with President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji, as well as with business leaders, according to Australian officials.

The visit, which coincides with the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the sum of two units countries, is Howard's third as prime minister, the principally recent being last year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' meeting in Shanghai.

His visit has been overshadowed by way of his decision not to suited with the Dalai Lama of Tibet, who is generally visiting Australia.

According to the Australian Associated Pres (AAP), Howard told reporters in Beijing there was ''nothing artificial'' about his decision not to convenient the Dalai Lama, having previously had talks with him in the latter's capacity as Tibet's spiritual leader during an earlier visit to Australia.

''I met the Dalai Lama when he was last in Australia. As you can diocese I'm in China and he's in Australia,'' he said.

on the contrary AAP quoted Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade representative Secretary Alan Thomas as telling a parliamentary committee that China ''can reasonably have the belief that as a general order we wouldn't expect our political leaders to suited the Dalai Lama'' in his capacity as leader of the Tibetan populace in exile.

He said the heads of Australia's overseas embassies were also barred from attending any functions involving the Dalai Lama that could be constru as political.

Howard said he would push in Beijing for Australia's Woodside seneca oil Ltd. to win a share of a multibillion-dollar, 30-year contract to invest an annual 3 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China's booming Guangdong Province.

A consortium from Qatar is being seen as likely winner, while Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri was in Beijing last month lobbying for a bid by the agency of an Indonesian consortium.

Howard acknowledged it would be ''very difficult'' to win the contract, yet pledged ''to give it the best ball I can'' and ''argue actual strongly that reliability, continuity, stability are things just as important, if not more important, than sheer price comparisons.''

Regarding the novel launching of tripartite talks forward security among Australia, Japan and the United States, which China is reportedly uneasy with, Howard said he would be ''very happy'' to discuss the issue in Beijing.

''There is nothing in that that's the least bit menacing to the Chinese. It shouldn't be seen that way at all. And indeed the same of things I will do in Beijing is to raise the desirability of resuming our acknowledge security dialogue with China.''

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