Jul 14, 2005 -- BBC Monitoring

China's ambassador to Australia says Beijing wants to buy uranium from Australia's Northern Territory, but only if the territory is willing to sell it. Mme Fu Ying was in Darwin for a major minerals conference.

China is experiencing a huge increase in demand for energy and Mme Fu says nuclear power is one way to help meet that demand. But she is aware of the contention surrounding uranium mining. [Fu] We respect the problems the countries have and we hope that it's going to be a comfortable relationship. So if the Northern Territory has the resources and is willing to export, China will be certainly interested.

Source: Radio Australia, Melbourne, in English 0800 gmt 14 Jul 05

BBC Mon AS1 AsPol km

News Provided By