Jill Jolliffe, Dili – East Timor's Foreign Minister, Jose Ramos Horta, has put pragmatism ahead of human rights in his first foreign policy statement, describing China as the new nation's "closest possible ally".
Mr Ramos Horta said Dili wanted China's friendship as a "superpower, and economic powerhouse" and because it was the only Asian permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.
And Mr Ramos Horta, who visited Beijing in 2000 with the now President Xanana Gusmao, said he would "not lecture other countries on their human rights records".
In a statement that also advised Acehnese and Papuan activists to accept autonomy status from Indonesia, he said East Timor was hoping soon to open diplomatic relations with China, which now occupies the largest embassy in Dili's diplomatic quarter.
Mr Horta said there were also historic reasons for preferring China. It had been the only international power to recognise the short-lived republic declared by the nationalist Fretilin party in November 1975.
One of the justifications Indonesia gave for its invasion weeks later was that Fretilin's leaders were under Maoist influence and were aiming to set up a communist state in the region.
Mr Ramos Horta said there were no ideological reasons behind the stand. "Does anybody believe China is still a Marxist-Leninist country?" he asked, adding: "The Chinese of today are more preoccupied with conquering markets than influencing anyone politically."
The 52-year-old minister has been foreign policy spokesman for the East Timorese nationalist movement since 1974, when he first approached Jakarta to discuss East Timorese aspirations to self-determination.
The 1996 Nobel Peace Prize winner also spoke about the conflict in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and Aceh.
"No government in this country should ever be imprudent or foolish enough to offer sympathy or support for Papua or Aceh's quest for independence," he said. "They should accept Jakarta's autonomy offer – it is genuine." He said the East Timorese had based their independence case on their separate legal status as a Portuguese colony invaded by foreign power.
Indonesia would "fight to the bitter end" to preserve Papua and Aceh because defeat would represent "the real break-up of Indonesia", he said.
Mr Ramos Horta also pursued a pragmatic line on the trials in Indonesia of military officers charged with human rights violations in East Timor in 1999.
"For the first time in Indonesian history, serving military officers are being brought to trial ... I'm prepared to be very sympathetic. Let's wait and see." he said.