Timor-Leste's President José Ramos-Horta has definitively ruled out any Chinese military bases in his country.

When asked by 7.30 whether he would allow any such base, Mr Ramos-Horta said he would not allow the establishment of a base by any "hostile power" or country that is "perceived to be potentially hostile".

The declaration will come as a relief to Australia's defence, foreign policy and intelligence communities who were alarmed when Solomon Islands signed a security agreement with China in March.

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said at the time that Australia remained his country's security partner of choice and that the agreement did not include any military facility.

But what caused great concern in Canberra was when he said that he would call on Beijing for security personnel if there was a "gap" that his country needed to fill.

"If there is any gap, we will not allow our country to go down the drain. If there is a gap, we will call on support from China," Mr Sogavare said.

Mr Ramos-Horta, speaking before leaving Dili to visit Australia this week, said Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, was strategically more important than Solomon Islands.

"Timor-Leste is very strategic," he said.

"When you look at the map, far more strategic than Solomon Islands. We are a one-hour flight to Darwin, one hour to Indonesia, three hours to Singapore, in a very vital strategic waterway."

Asked would he allow a Chinese military base in his country, he replied: "We have a responsibility to our neighbours, to Australia, to Indonesia, to other South-East Asian countries not to allow Timor-Leste to be a base for any hostile power or power that is perceived by our neighbours to be potentially hostile.

"A prosperous, stable Timor-Leste is in Australia's best interests because Timor-Leste should sit in the geography of Australia's greater strategic interests."

Push for gas project

Mr Ramos-Horta called on Australia and Australian energy giant Woodside to "extend the hand of friendship" and agree that gas from a deposit in the Timor Sea should be sent to Timor-Leste rather than Australia for processing.

Currently Woodside and Timor-Leste are negotiating over the future of the "Greater Sunrise" oil and gas deposits between the two countries.

Woodside has suggested that if the gas is processed in Timor-Leste then the project may not be viable.

Timor-Leste says it should benefit from the additional jobs and profits that can come with processing.

While Woodside and Timor-Leste have an agreement about how royalties for the deposits will be divided, Timor-Leste is unlikely to be able to pay for the multi-million-dollar investment required to build a processing facility.

While his statement that he would not allow any Chinese base in his country will reassure Australian foreign affairs policymakers who are nervous about growing Chinese influence in the region, Mr Ramos-Horta's comments about other options if Woodside walks away from Greater Sunrise will cause concern in Canberra.

He said: "We will work with Indonesia, we will work with South Korea or with China, if necessary."

That sentiment was supported by the man leading Timor-Leste's negotiations with Woodside, Florentino Ferreira — president of the country's National Authority of Petroleum and Minerals.