by Sam Roggeveen
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31 March 2008 11:45AM
Prime Minister Rudd had an awkward moment at a press conference yesterday when a Japanese journalist asked him if he had spoken to his Japanese counterpart on the phone. Rudd's answer was less than elegant:
Asked if there should have been telephone contact between him and Mr Fukuda, Mr Rudd said such calls between leaders arose according to need. "From time to time there are a number of foreign heads of government with whom I have not had telephone contact and there are a number of calls scheduled, and this is entirely normal," he said.
It is passing strange that the two have never spoken on the phone, but why is the onus on Rudd? Wasn't a congratulatory phone call in order after Rudd won the election? Yet the nearest I can find to a Japanese message of congratulation comes from this interview with the Chief Cabinet Secretary. But there was surely a telegram or letter or something. Can any of my DFAT readers help?
