Never a dull moment could, perhaps, become the slogan of the Kimberley Process.

 

Of all the issues and possible road-bumps that this year's Chair, Australia, might have foreseen, it's safe to assume that nobody thought the Chinese delegation would cause confusion and chaos at the opening session.

 

The first day of the May 1-4 Kimberley Process Intersessional Meeting in Perth was noisily disrupted by the Chinese delegation which was upset by the presence of a group from Taiwan.

 

The Chinese group reportedly "hijacked the microphone" during a traditional Aboriginal welcoming ceremony, as a senior official was introducing Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.

 

The Chinese delegation wanted to know whether the rather innocuously titled Taiwan group – Rough Diamond Trading Entity of Chinese Taipei – had been officially invited.

 

The welcoming ceremony was suspended until the matter had been addressed. However, a discussion session later on the first day was also abandoned because of continual interruptions by officials from African countries in support of China's position. The Taiwanese delegation was asked to leave the conference.

 

The timing seems odd on the one hand since the Chinese delegation has never done such a thing in past KP meetings, or it seems any other international business gatherings – at least from what I have been able to find.

 

Of all the global forums the Chinese could have chosen to make their feelings known about the Taiwan issue, assuming there is somebody out there who is not aware of it, it seems odd that it would choose the Kimberley Process in order to do so.

 

China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province which will eventually be reunited with the mainland, and therefore insists that other countries cannot have diplomatic relations with both China and Taiwan.

 

Perhaps it's a new policy dictated from the top to show the world that China does not accept the idea that Taiwan is accorded the rights of a sovereign country following the Chinese leadership's fury with President Trump and Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen after he took a phone call from her congratulating him on his US Presidential election victory.

 

Whatever the reason, it's unacceptable behavior and completely the wrong forum for a political issue to be raised. Following the disruption, which was described as "extraordinary", Australia complained to China's ambassador to the country. One high-level Australian attendee told the BBC: "It was disgusting."

 

We all know that keeping political or religious feuds out of certain forums, such as sporting battles, is easier said than done, but it has to be done, nonetheless. And I find it difficult to believe that the Chinese delegation made many new friends or allies with their behavior.

 

Meetings of the KP are known to be fraught and difficult at the best of times – and that's just dealing with diamond issues – the last thing we need is to bring in issues that are completely irrelevant to its work.