E. Timor's Gusmao arrives in Beijing for talks

E. Timor's Gusmao arrives in Beijing for talks

BEIJING (Reuters): East Timor independence leader Xanana Gusmao flew into Beijing on Monday for talks with Chinese leaders on diplomatic relations and the situation in his strife-torn homeland, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Beijing is also hosting a visit by Indonesia's air force chief, Marshal Hanafie Asnan, who arrived last Saturday for a five-day visit at the invitation of China's air force commander, Lt. Gen. Liu Shunyao, the agency said.

Xinhua gave no further details of the two visits.

Gusmao, widely expected to become his independent homeland's first president, would meet Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao, Vice Premier Qian Qichen and Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan during his four-day visit, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said last week.

East Timor is being administered by the United Nations as it prepares for independence in two to three years time after having voting overwhelmingly last August to split from Indonesia after almost 23 years of often brutal army-backed rule.

China is eager to woo Gusmao and prevent an independent East Timor from recognizing wealthy rival Taiwan, which has used its economic leverage to win over Beijing's diplomatic allies.

It was unclear if China would give any money to help rebuild devastated East Timor.

Beijing considers Taiwan a breakaway province and has sought to push the island into diplomatic isolation since Nationalists fled there into exile after being defeated in a civil war in 1949.

Taiwan has fewer than 30 diplomatic allies, most of them impoverished countries in Africa and Latin America.

Gusmao needs the backing of China, one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council with the power to veto the stationing of peacekeeping forces in East Timor.

In a show of support for the UN peacekeeping operations in East Timor, China this month sent 15 policemen to the territory.

Last week, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said Beijing respected the choice of the people of East Timor but stressed that relevant issues should be properly resolved under the framework of the United Nations.

Beijing is keen to set ground rules for future UN action to avoid precedents for international intervention in what it regards as its internal affairs in the restive regions of Tibet and Xinjiang, and most critically Taiwan.

The spokesman said China would continue to take a responsible attitude and closely cooperate with relevant parties so as to contribute to a stable transition in East Timor.

Gusmao has played a major role in the former Portuguese colony's independence struggle as a guerrilla leader, a figurehead in jail and now in talks with the United Nations.