Australia says China canceled minister's visit

China canceled a senior minister's visit to Australia as part of a diplomatic row over a Uighur activist, the government said Tuesday.

Beijing is angry that Australia defied its wishes by granting a visa to Rebiya Kadeer, an ethnic Uighur Muslim from China's west who lives in exile in the United States, so that she could attend a film festival in the southern city of Melbourne this month.

Relations also have been strained by the arrest in China of Australian citizen Stern Hu among four employees of the mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd. who were charged with infringing trade secrets and bribery in the multibillion-dollar iron ore trade.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith's office confirmed on Tuesday that the Kadeer furor was the reason Chinese Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei did not attend a summit of 16 Pacific nation leaders in the northern city of Cairns in early August.

Chinese officials told Australia via "diplomatic channels" that the minister would be unable to attend the Pacific Islands Forum because of the visa issued to Kadeer, Smith's office said in a statement. The Chinese delegation was led instead by a more junior envoy.

"We regret that the Chinese government has felt obliged to take these steps," the statement said, adding that Australia supported Chinese sovereignty over the restive Xinjiang region of western China.

Beijing accuses Kadeer of inciting riots between Uighurs and members f the dominant Han Chinese group in Xinjiang in July that killed at least 197 people and injured more than 1,700. She denies it.

A Chinese Embassy official in Canberra was not immediately available for comment.