Clive Palmer should have apologised for his anti-China rant earlier, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says, but she's pleased he's done it now.
A week after describing the Chinese government as mongrels and bastards who shoot their own people, the Palmer United Party leader has written to China's ambassador, Ma Zhaoxu, to apologise.
"I now come to the realisation that what I said on Q&A was an insult to Chinese people everywhere and I wish to assure them they have my most genuine and sincere apology," Mr Palmer wrote.
"I am sorry that I said the things I said on the program."
Ms Bishop welcomed the apology but said she wished it would have been a littler quicker coming.
"It seemed to be an example of Mr Palmer confusing his private interests with his public duties as an elected representative but I'm pleased that he's made an apology," she told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.
She hoped PUP senator Jacqui Lambie would follow Mr Palmer's example and reflect on her own anti-China comments and their negative impact on a major trading relationship.
Mr Palmer didn't take any advice from the foreign minister's office or department on the wording of his apology, she said.
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