premise: "I am afraid that, knowing Asians, who are always very polite and do not like to appear to be recalcitrant, the views of Australia are likely to dominate," he said.
  His jab at Australia, whose then-premier Paul Keating dubbed him "recalcitrant" for refusing to attend a 1993 regional summit, apparently hit the mark.
  Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer on Saturday lashed out at a reporter who relayed the suggestion that his country would act as a proxy for America in a new 16-nation bloc.
  "I think even you could move beyond the puerile allegations of a 'deputy sheriff,'" he snapped at a reporter.
  It was left to Malaysia's Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar to defend Canberra's presence, saying the summit had moved beyond a geographical definition that would have excluded Australia.
   What does Alexander Downer's lashing out at a reporter refer to?
hypothesis: he snapped at a reporter