Australia Tibet Council (ATC) has urged the Prime Minster and Foreign Minister to discuss the future of Tibet with visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping. Specifically, ATC has argued that Xi Jinping, the man almost certain to succeed Hu Jintao as President of China, must be encouraged to use his influence to progress the currently stalled dialogue between the Chinese Government and the Dalai Lama.

While recently overshadowed in the Australian media by the Stern Hu case, the visit of Rebiya Kadeer, the failed Chinalco bid and Google’s challenges to China’s Internet censorship, Beijing itself has elevated Tibet to a “core issue”, according it equal importance to Taiwan. Read the full media release

Over 1,100 Australians, including federal politicians of all major political parties, have signed a letter to the Prime Minister urging he support a request from survivors of last week’s devastating earthquake for the Dalai Lama to be permitted to visit the stricken area.

Survivors of the 6.9 magnitude earthquake that struck at the heart of the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (Tibetan: Kyigudo) made the unprecedented request to China’s President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao for the Dalai Lama to be permitted to visit the overwhelmingly Tibetan region and provide comfort to those affected. The Dalai Lama, who was forced from Tibet into exile in India in 1959, told a press conference in Dharamsala on 17 April that he wished to fulfil their request. Read the full media release

MPs From All Parties to Join Tibetan Community in Commemorating 51st Anniversary of 1959 Tibetan Uprising

Parliament Lawn - Noon
Chinese Embassy, Yarralumla - 2pm

Members and Senators from all parties will be joining a large gathering of Tibetans from Sydney and Canberra on Parliament Lawn today to mark the 51st anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan Uprising.

Hon. Peter Slipper MP (Liberal) and Senator Scott Ludlam (Greens), both members of 2009’s Parliamentary Delegation to Dharamsala (seat of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile), and Kelvin Thompson MP (Labor) will address the crowd at around 12.15pm. Other MPs and Senators including Michael Danby MP (Labor), Convenor of the Australian All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet, are expected to attend. Around one hundred Tibetans are travelling from Sydney for the occasion.

10 March is the most politically significant day in the Tibetan calendar, marking the day in 1959 that Tibetans first rose up against Chinese rule. The uprising was violently quashed, leaving tens of thousands dead and forcing His Holiness the Dalai Lama into exile. 10 March 2010 is also the second anniversary of the beginning of unprecedented protests across Tibetan areas in 2008 following an intensifying of oppressive policies ahead of the Beijing Olympics. Over 1,000 Tibetans remain unaccounted for following the violent and continuing crackdown.

The presidents of the Tibetan communities of Sydney and Canberra will present a “Memorandum on the Tibetan Situation” to the parliamentarians, outlining the current situation in Tibet and the status of negotiations between the Chinese Government and representatives of the Dalai Lama, and requesting further support from the Australian Government, in particular on behalf of Tibet’s political prisoners.

After the hour-long event on Parliament Lawn the Tibetan community and supporters will march to the Chinese Embassy in Yarralumla for a protest beginning at 2pm.

For further information and comment:
Simon Bradshaw, Campaign Coordinator, Australia Tibet Council - (02) 9283 3466