In the wake of another round of unproductive talks between Chinese officials and envoys of the Dalai Lama, the Australia Tibet Council is calling on the Prime Minister to provide urgent practical support for a peaceful resolution of the Tibet issue. The talks were described by Special Envoy Lodi Gyari as “one of the most difficult sessions” held so far.

Exactly one month before the opening of the Beijing Olympics, Mr. Rudd will join leaders of the G8 nations on the Japanese island of Hokkaido tomorrow. Chinese President Hu Jintao will also be present.

The Australia Tibet Council has joined international Tibet support groups in urging the G8 participants to raise Tibet with Hu Jintao and help upgrade the current dialogue process to immediate, substantive and results-oriented negotiations on the future of Tibet.

Paul Bourke, Executive Officer for the Australia Tibet Council, said that they were ‘concerned and bewildered’ by the Prime Minister’s current policy on China and Tibet.

‘Having spoken strongly during the crisis in Tibet in March and raised Australians’ concerns directly with the Chinese leadership in Beijing, Mr. Rudd has since remained silent in spite of the continuing crackdown in Tibet and falling hopes of any substantive progress before the Olympic Games.’

In early May the Chinese government successfully silenced many of its international critics, including the Australian government, with the announcement of a new round of formal Tibet-China dialogue. The two-day talks concluded last Wednesday with no break in the deadlock and suggestions that the Chinese negotiators had failed to take the talks seriously.

Mr. Bourke added that the Prime Minister’s premature announcement of his decision to attend the Games’ opening ceremony, before knowing the outcome of the latest round of Tibet-China dialogue, may have contributed to the Chinese government feeling it had satisfied the concerns of the international community over Tibet and did not need to take genuine steps towards a resolution before the Olympics.

While time is running out fast, the Australia Tibet Council believes that this week’s G8 Summit could still have a significant impact.

Many of the leaders present at this week’s summit, including President George Bush, President Nicholas Sarkozy, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Chancellor Angela Merkel, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd have recently made strong individual statements of support for a peaceful resolution of the Tibet issue through dialogue.

‘We are urging these leaders to jointly re-affirm their support for the dialogue process and call on President Hu Jintao to elevate the dialogue to the level of formal, results-oriented negotiations leading to genuine autonomy for the Tibetan people as soon as possible.’