Timor-Leste warns it will work with China if Australia insists on pumping Timor Sea gas to Darwin

Exclusive: President Jose Ramos-Horta says his country's leadership has to make decisions ... if necessary a trip to China'

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Timor-Leste's president, Jose Ramos-Horta, has warned his nation will seek Chinese support if Australia and Woodside Energy fail to back a gas pipeline between the resource-rich Timor Sea and his country's southern shore, rather than Darwin.

Ramos-Horta has warned Timor-Leste - Australia's neighbour and ally - would absolutely" look to Chinese investment to secure what he says is the national strategic goal" of piping gas from the Greater Sunrise fields to his nation's coast. The comments are likely to heighten concerns about Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific.