Tibetans raise rights abuses as PM meets Chinese leader
Penpa Tsering has urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to use his trip to China, which coincides with his own to Australia, to call out Chinese human rights abuses, including in Tibet.
Mr Albanese met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Tuesday, where he said he discussed several issues but did not refer to human rights in his opening remarks or the subsequent press conference with Australian media.
Mr Tsering said it was important human rights issues were raised as more than just a box-checking exercise at the start of meetings, as the Chinese government would brush off timid remarks knowing there would be no follow-through.
He said most Tibetans in Australia were former political prisoners and needed to self-censor criticisms of China if they wanted to get a visa to go back to the autonomous region to visit family.
"I would like to believe that Australia is concerned about human rights situations, religious freedoms in every part of the world because that's a value that Australians cherish as a democratic, free country," he told AAP.
Human Rights Watch's Australia director Daniela Gavshon said vague statements by the prime minister minimised the seriousness of China's abuses.
Mr Albanese said Australia would "disagree where we must" when asked about China's human rights record in Shanghai.
"By glossing over human rights as a difference of opinion, the Australian government risks undermining the very system that was established to protect and promote people's rights all over the world," she told AAP.
As Mr Albanese promotes greater trade between Australia and China during his trip, Mr Tsering encouraged Canberra to reverse course and give China less business.
This would deprive it of the economic benefits it then uses to prop up the very military build-up and human rights abuses Canberra then criticises, he said.
"People look for material benefit more than moral values, unfortunately," the president in exile said.
"As long as you have business, economic development, everybody feels comfortable and they don't talk about human rights - everything goes under the carpet, that's very sad."
Mr Tsering is using his week-long tour in Australia to meet with the Tibetan community rather than political meetings, but will return for a second trip in February on a more diplomatic mission.
China tightly controls Tibet and has been widely accused of severe human rights violations including torture, arbitrary detention and forced labour.
Mr Tsering said Tibet was autonomous in name only as Beijing cracks down on freedoms and suppresses local culture.
A major point of contention is religious freedoms, with China demanding the authority to determine the next Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhism's spiritual leader.
The Dalai Lama has just turned 90 and followers believe His Holiness is reincarnated upon his death and China should have no say in the religious process.
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