FED: China dialogue to continue despite incremental gains

AAP General News (Australia)
08-10-1999
FED: China dialogue to continue despite incremental gains

By Stephen Spencer, Diplomatic Correspondent

CANBERRA, Aug 10 AAP - Australia is to hold its third annual human rights dialogue with
China in Beijing this month, despite admitting the controversial talks have produced only
incremental gains.

Australian officials today pledged to frankly raise China's treatment of Tibet, its liberal
use of the death penalty and restrictive family planning policies in the August 16-20 Beijing
talks.

"We haven't got any no-go areas. We haven't quarantined certain sensitive issues from the
dialogue," one official told reporters.

"We intend to raise the full range in a direct and clear and firm way."

One specific issue to be discussed this year will be the recent crackdown on the Falungong
group, which China argues is a political movement challenging the central communist party.

But the Australian officials admitted the previous two dialogues in Beijing and Canberra
had produced only small gains and they were unable to point to any specific improvement in
China's treatment of political, ethnic or religious dissent.

"I would hope that over the longer term this would have an impact but I acknowledge it is
difficult to say that this dramatic change happened because of the dialogue," one official
said.

The controversial annual talks were agreed to by China as a reward for Australia abandoning
support for an annual United Nations motion condemning its human rights record.

The approach has seen a dramatic improvement in relations, and helped facilitate the first
visit to Australia by a Chinese leader when President Jiang Zemin visits next month.

However, the Australian Tibet Council says China has used the talks to buy Australia's
silence and called for the dialogue to be suspended.

"The third round of the dialogue seems certain to be at least as ineffectual as the
previous meetings when it comes to confronting the serious human rights abuses taking place in
Tibet," the council said in a statement.

AAP ss/mfh/ah/br

KEYWORD: CHINA AUST

1999 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.