Tibet groups plan large Canberra protest to push China for talks
Apr 11, 2008, 12:20 GMT
Beijing - A large protest planned by Tibetans and their sup****ters
during the Olympic torch relay in Canberra is aimed at pu****ng China
to talk to the exiled Dalai Lama and is not against China or the
Olympics, the Australia Tibet Council said on Friday.
Most of Australia's estimated 450 Tibetan citizens are expected to
join a rally in the Australian city on April 24, joined by a 'large
network of Tibet sup****ters,' Simon Bradshaw, the council's campaign
coordinator, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa in Beijing.
'It's im****tant to point out that this is not anti-Chinese, it's not
anti-Olympics; it's really about Tibet, it's about recognizing the
problems that are there,' Bradshaw said.
'We're very lucky in Australia in that we have the right to democratic
protest in a way that Chinese, and certainly Tibetans, don't at the
moment,' he said.
'So there is an intention to use the torch relay to really highlight
what's going on in Tibet and build further pressure on China to sit
down with the Dalai Lama before the Olympics,' he said.
Bradshaw said he was 'disappointed' that Australian Prime Minister
Kevin Rudd's talks with his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao on Thursday
apparently failed to soften China's position on dialogue with the
Dalai Lama.
He said there was 'every likelihood' that Australian sup****ters of
Tibetans would also stage a protest during the Beijing Olympics in
August.
Rudd on Thursday reaffirmed that 'total security will be provided by
the Australian authorities' during the Canberra torch relay, following
complaints that China's military-trained torch guards were over-
zealous in London last weekend.
He said the Chinese guards would travel on a bus in Canberra and only
get off if the Olympic torch needed to be relit.
Rudd said he had urged Wen to hold a dialogue with the Dalai Lama and
had 'considerable discussion' lasting some 30 minutes on the recent
unrest in China's Tibetan areas.
'I think we have a different view, that's quite plain,' he said of the
discussion on Tibet.
'When it comes to the particular events of recent times, the position
of the Australian government is that there are significant human
rights problems in Tibet,' Rudd said
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