Australia holds emergency meeting with China after extradition treaty failure

FILE PHOTO - Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop speaks at a joint news conference with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, China, February 17, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's foreign minister held an emergency meeting with the Chinese ambassador in the wake of Canberra's failure to ratify an extradition treaty with China, a source familiar with the situation said on Wednesday.

Australia cancelled a parliamentary vote on Tuesday to finally ratify an extradition treaty with China, 10 years after it was signed, with the government set for an embarrassing defeat on the vote amid opposition on the grounds of China's humanitarian record.