Australian PM quizzed on trips donated by China businessman

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2008

SYDNEY (AFP) — Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd came under fire Thursday for accepting free overseas trips while in opposition from a Chinese businessman with links to Macau casino magnate Stanley Ho.

Rudd said there was nothing untoward in allowing businessman Ian Tang's company, Beijing AustChina Technology, to pay for the trips, and rejected suggestions it left him vulnerable to influence peddling.

He said opposition politicians in Australia received no taxpayer funding for overseas trips and it was accepted practice for them to take trips financed by private entities.

"It's just a reality," Rudd told public radio after acknowledging he accepted the travel before coming to power but declared it in official records.

"If you are trying to do...

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