Australian PM Rudd meets Chinese Premier Wen with Tibet on agenda
Posted: 10 April 2008 1459 hrs

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BEIJING: Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd met Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao here Thursday, a day after vowing to raise the sensitive issue of Tibet with China's leaders.

Rudd was greeted at the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing where he and Wen reviewed an honour guard before beginning bilateral talks.

"I believe your visit will offer further impetus to future growth of China-Australia relations," Wen said at the start of talks.

Rudd responded: "I also look forward to expanding our relations between us."

Rudd, a fluent Mandarin speaker, is the highest-profile western leader to visit China since unrest erupted in Tibet last month, and his four-day trip is his first since he became prime minister last November.

During a speech at the prestigious Beijing University on Wednesday, Rudd set the tone for the visit, saying he intended to have a "straightforward discussion" on Tibet with China's leaders.

"Australia, like most other countries, recognises China's sovereignty over Tibet but we also believe it is necessary to recognise there are significant human rights problems in Tibet," Rudd told the students in Mandarin.

"The current situation in Tibet is of concern to Australians. We recognise the need for all parties to avoid violence and find a solution through dialogue."

The unrest against China's rule in Tibet has angered Chinese leaders and tarnished their image in the run-up to the August Beijing Olympics.

China's communist rulers deny they are responsible for religious and cultural repression in Tibet, and insist their control of the remote region has benefited its devoutly Buddhist people.

However Tibetan exiled leaders say more than 150 people have been killed in the Chinese crackdown on the protests over the past month. China says it has killed no one, and blamed Tibetan "rioters" for the deaths of 20 people.

Rudds' comments on Tibet were largely ignored by China's state-run media Thursday, which instead focused on his remarks that he would not boycott the Beijing Olympics and other aspects of his wide-ranging speech.

"Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd enthralled his audience at Peking University with an intimate grasp of China affairs and a thorough understanding of global politics yesterday," the English-language China Daily wrote. - AFP/ac