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SYDNEY: Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith on Monday urged
China to be more open about the situation in Tibet, saying the first
foreign diplomats to visit the riot-hit region were watched at all
times.
An Australian was part of a group of 17 foreign
officials from 15 countries that visited the Tibetan capital Lhasa
on Friday and Saturday after Beijing bowed to international calls to
allow diplomats into the Himalayan region.
Smith said China had taken a step in the right
direction by allowing diplomats to visit Tibet following weeks of
protests against Beijing’s rule there, but said it was
disappointing that they had been constantly monitored.
“At all times, the delegation was in the
presence of Chinese officials,” he told reporters in Perth. “The
best way forward, in the Australian government’s view in this
matter, is for China to be open and transparent about Tibet, to open
itself up to scrutiny, whether by international media or by
diplomats.”
Smith said China had told the diplomats that
Tibetan monks who protested during an earlier media tour of Lhasa
would not be harmed.
“The delegation received an assurance that
monks who protested effectively in the presence of international
journalists a few days prior to the diplomats’ arrival would not
be punished,” he said.
-- AFP
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