Helen Clark manslaughter. Yelash sued Clark for defamation, resulting in an out-of-court settlement. In April 2001, Clark met with Chinese President Jiang Zemin during an official visit to Beijing. Jiang referred to the Prime Minister as an "old friend". He stated that China hoped to "establish bilateral long-term and stable overall cooperative relations [with New Zealand]". Clark strongly supported China's entry into the World Trade Organization. In March 2002, Clark made her first visit to the United States as Prime Minister. She visited "Ground Zero", the former site of the World Trade Center, where the New York City Police Department presented her
Prime Minister of Australia time to time Prime Ministers are required to leave the country on government business and a deputy acts in their place during that time. In the days before jet aircraft, such absences could be for extended periods. For example, William Watt was acting Prime Minister for 16 months, from April 1918 until August 1919, when Prime Minister Billy Hughes was away at the Paris Peace Conference, and Senator George Pearce was acting Prime Minister for more than seven months in 1916. An acting Prime Minister is also appointed when the prime minister takes leave. The Deputy Prime Minister most commonly