Rudd Heads Into Storm Over Tibet

The Age

Wednesday April 9, 2008

Michelle Grattan, London, Mary-Anne Toy, Beijing and Misha Schubert, Canberra

KEVIN Rudd has become entangled in the international row over China and human rights abuses, with Beijing lodging a formal complaint to Australia about the Prime Minister's comments on Tibet before his arrival in China today.

The flare-up came as China faced a growing conundrum over pro-Tibet protests disrupting the Olympic torch relay, with top Olympic officials suggesting that remaining international legs of the relay, including Australia's, may be abandoned.

On the eve of Mr Rudd's four-day visit to Beijing, it emerged that China had lodged protests both in Canberra and with Australia's embassy in Beijing about the Prime Minister's views.

The complaints came after remarks by Mr Rudd in Washington 10 days ago, when he condemned human rights abuses in Tibet and called on China to engage with the exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

"It is absolutely clear that there are human rights abuses in Tibet. That's clear-cut; we need to be upfront and absolutely straight about what's going on," he said at a media conference with US President George Bush.

The Chinese objected to what they saw as Mr Rudd's one-sided criticism, arguing it ignored Tibetan attacks on Chinese.

China's ambassador to Australia, Zhang Junsai, conveyed the protest to a Foreign Affairs official in Canberra, as did Chinese officials to Australia's ambassador in Beijing.

The sharp reaction further complicates Mr Rudd's visit to China, amid the escalating international controversy over Tibet and the Beijing Olympics.

After the clashes that disrupted the Paris and London legs of the torch relay, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said last night the committee would discuss scrapping remaining international legs of the relay during talks in Beijing later this week.

His comments came hours before the torch arrived last night at its next destination, San Francisco, where more protests are planned and activists have erected anti-Beijing banners on the Golden Gate Bridge.

Australian IOC board member Kevan Gosper said yesterday the committee would also consider the entire future of the torch relay tradition during the Beijing talks. London, host of the 2012 Games, is already considering abandoning the international relay, with organisers saying they are committed only to a domestic leg at this stage.

Speaking in Beijing, Mr Gosper launched a scathing attack on torch relay protesters, accusing them of being professional spoilers and filled with hate. "They just take their hate out on whatever the issues are at the time, and that hate against the host country is being taken out on our torch," he said.

Mr Gosper's comments were in contrast to those of Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates, who is also in Beijing. Speaking to The Age, Mr Coates condemned Chinese repression in Tibet and defended the right of people to protest, but called on them to use only peaceful means.

Mr Coates said he was surprised by the extent of violence from torch protesters. "I don't believe we should interfere with protesters and don't believe protesters should interfere with the torch relay . . . in an ideal world," he said.

The developments came as China revealed it would set up special protest areas during the Beijing Olympics. Media director Li Zhanjun confirmed that secure pens would be set up and policed for Chinese, but not foreign, protesters.

Mr Coates welcomed the idea, saying he had suggested it to the Chinese ambassador last year, based on arrangements for protesters during the Sydney 2000 Games.

Meanwhile, US President George Bush was facing calls to boycott the Games opening ceremony, including from presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, after French President Nicolas Sarkozy indicated he may skip the event.

Mr Rudd, speaking in London ahead of his departure for Beijing, was keeping his options open on whether to accept an invitation to attend the Games. He has said he will make a decision according to his schedule, and has continued to say he does not believe in a boycott of the Games.

It is believed his main concern is whether people in Australia would regard such a trip as being for his enjoyment when he could be attending to domestic issues.

Mr Rudd has indicated he will avoid receiving the Olympic torch if it comes to Canberra, pleading another engagement. That day, April 24, he has a memorial service for the sailors who lost their lives on HMAS Sydney in World War II.

Mr Rudd has also reaffirmed that Chinese security guards will not be allowed into Australia to protect the torch if the Canberra leg of the relay goes ahead, although Olympic officials will be able to come. In Britain, the Chinese officials who ran with the torch were called "Olympic attendants".

Answering questions at an overflowing gathering of about 1000 people at a London School of Economics-sponsored lecture, Mr Rudd said dealing with China and Tibet was very complex. "It's very difficult. Let's not pretend that it's easy. It never has been and never will be," he said.

He said it was important to recognise changes in China in the past 30 years, but "you still have problems on human rights".

He repeated his call for the Chinese Government to engage with the Dalai Lama through his representatives. "There have been such contacts in the past - they need to be resuscitated," he said.

Mr Rudd has three main aims during his China visit. He wants to get to know the Chinese leadership better. Although he has previously met President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, it was only while he was in opposition and once for each of them. He also wants to meet any that he can of the up and coming generation of Chinese leadership.

Second, he is anxious to push along negotiations for a free-trade agreement between Australia and China, which have stalled, and to determine China's current position on the Doha international trade talks.

Mr Rudd is also anxious to engage the Chinese on climate change. There can be no comprehensive and satisfactory international agreement on climate change without a major emitter like China being fully involved.

Mr Rudd will deliver a lecture to students in Mandarin, although he will conduct the question-and-answer session in English. He will use English for his official talks.

KEVIN RUDD

MARCH 29

It is absolutely clear that there are human rights abuses in Tibet.

GEORGE BUSH

MARCH 29,

IN RESPONSE TO RUDD

On Tibet, (I) couldn't have said it better.

DALAI LAMA

SATURDAY

It is the legitimate right of every Tibetan to struggle for their freedoms and rights. On the other hand, it will be futile and not helpful to anyone if we do something that will create hatred in the minds of the Chinese people.

JIANG YU,

CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESWOMAN, YESTERDAY

The disruption and sabotage of the torch relay is a challenge to the spirit of the Olympic charter, the world laws, and peace-loving people around the world.

KEVAN GOSPER

IOC BOARD MEMBER, YESTERDAY

These professional spoilers ... just take their hate out on whatever the issues are at the time, and that hate against the host country is being taken out on our torch.

BRENDAN NELSON YESTERDAY

Let us not under any circumstances as Australians see any kind of rabble in our country.

© 2008 The Age

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