East Timor's leader prefers cheap Chinese warships

CANBERRA, Australia - East Timor would prefer to buy a "fake Gucci ship from China" than pay extra for Western military hardware, the nation's president said after acquiring two Chinese warships.

East Timor this month took delivery of two Shanghai class navy patrol boats from defense company China Poly Group in a move widely interpreted as a diplomatic rebuff to near neighbor Australia, which has been the biggest military supporter of East Timor since it became independent of Indonesia in 1999.

Australia developed a purpose-built patrol boat for its South Pacific neighbors in the 1980s as part of its foreign aid program and 12 island nations now use them for maritime surveillance.