Gary Humphries (ACT, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to make comment on this urgency motion and use the opportunity on behalf of the opposition to express concern over the events that have taken place in recent days in Tibet and note that the situation there appears to be extremely serious. It has resulted, apparently, in the deaths of dozens of people, the burning of shops and businesses, as well as the destruction of homes and public infrastructure there. I say ‘apparently’ because it is true that information about exactly what occurs in places such as Tibet is not easy to obtain and is not necessarily reliable, and we need to be very careful about what assumptions we make about the events that are unfolding there.

What is clear, I think, is that there is a very powerful undercurrent of dissent within the native-born Tibetan community and that, for whatever reason, this has surfaced in recent days in a violent way. The precise causes may be difficult to ascertain, but it is clear that the people who are citizens of Tibet, particularly those who are ancestrally related to the people of Tibet, feel great concern about the affairs in their country and, for whatever reason, that concern has been welling up in recent days. The 50-odd year history of Chinese control of Tibet obviously is closely related to that tension. Given the heightened focus on affairs in China and in Tibet, particularly given rise to by the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics, it is not surprising that more focus should occur on events all over China, particularly in a place like this. Nonetheless, whether this is the kind of event that relates to that additional international focus or whether it is simply a reflection of an ongoing and deep concern by people who live in Tibet about the conditions of Chinese sovereignty over Tibet, it is always disappointing to see these sorts of events—particularly bloody events—unfold.

I want to join with my colleagues today in this place to call on the Chinese government and its representatives in Tibet to act with sensitivity and restraint. I particularly hope that they will treat those people who have been apprehended as protesters in Tibet, and perhaps elsewhere in China, to be treated with great care. I would urge the Chinese government to allow those protests to take place without undue or violent intervention and to use only the minimum amount of force required to prevent the loss of life or damage to property. I appreciate that there are different rules operating in China with respect to demonstrations and expressions of opposition to the government, but I also urge the Chinese government to be aware that there are different values and different norms accepted outside of China and that, to a significant extent, the world will judge China by the extent to which it exercises restraint in the circumstances.

I understand that the Chinese government has offered leniency to protesters who hand themselves in to authorities by Monday night of this week. I particularly express the hope that those protesters who do hand themselves in are treated with due respect for their human rights, and I am sure that the Chinese authorities are aware that the world will be watching to ensure this is the case. I urge the Australian government in particular to keep a very close eye on this aspect of what is happening in Tibet and to make it known that it will not tolerate any form of human rights violation of those protesters.

It is unfortunate, I think, that in many respects these events are happening in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics and, indeed, just a few weeks before the Olympic torch is due to arrive in Lhasa prior to being carried to the top of Mount Everest. The Olympics is, of course, about bringing the world together in celebrating, at least for a few weeks, those things which unite us as human beings rather than those things which divide us, through highlighting the sporting abilities, skills and achievements of individuals all over the world.

I hope that, when the Olympic torch does make its way to Tibet, both the Tibetan and the Chinese communities will take this opportunity to focus on what they have in common as a people and to use that torch’s arrival as a chance to restore some form of dialogue—which, I appreciate, is perhaps a focus that is not there at the present time. I would also encourage those communities not to turn on each other in the name of political expression. I appreciate that many shops, businesses and even homes have been burnt in Lhasa over the last weekend and that these have mainly belonged to people of Chinese descent. It is important to acknowledge that those people, for the most part, are not to be blamed for the policies, however viewed, of the Chinese government and that it is extremely dangerous when communities turn on innocent representatives of the policies of governments as a way of expressing some kind of dissatisfaction with the policies of those governments.

In Australia, we expect protesters to behave in a way which is tolerant of the rights of other people and, therefore, particularly to eschew the use of violence. I have to express, as I think Minister Faulkner expressed, some concern about the use of violence by some protesters in Australia in the last few days. I hope that this Senate can unite with the clear message to those people that, however justified the basis for their protest and however valid the reasons for them to be expressing strongly a point of view about what is occurring in Tibet, the use of violence in that context is not justified and should never be supported or tolerated by Australians.

I appreciate also that there will be views taken, particularly by the Chinese government, about the right of other nations or citizens of other nations to express points of view about what might be regarded as the internal affairs of China. I want to finish by saying that I think it is very well established here and internationally that the rights of citizens of any nation are the concern of democratic societies everywhere. (Time expired)