The article below sounds like East Timor is about to get into bed with East Timor . The question is what impact will that have on Aus foreign policy in the region and will we do an Uncle Sam and try to interfere on East Timor's domestic politics?
There has been some conflict between Aus & East Timor re the extraction/onshore processing of gas. The article above does not say that China will come to the rescue although that may be better than a 50/50 bet, IMO.