Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang, the most senior Chinese official to visit Australia since 2007 and odds-on favourite to succeed Wen Jiabao as Premier in 2012, arrives in Sydney tonight. He is expected to meet with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard over the coming days.

The visit comes a month after Kevin Rudd quietly announced that he would not meet the Dalai Lama during his visit to Australia in December.

Coming after a one-on-one meeting between Kevin Rudd and Chinese Premier Wen Jiaibao on the sidelines of the East Asia summit in Thailand last Saturday, Li Keqiang’s visit has been heralded as signalling the end of months of bilateral tensions.

The Prime Minster has remained almost silent on Tibet since speaking out publicly in Beijing last year, despite the collapse of the Tibet-China dialogue and deteriorating conditions inside Tibet.

“In efforts to mend ties with an increasingly assertive Beijing, Mr. Rudd has sold out both on Tibet and the cause of human-rights more generally,” said Paul Bourke, Executive Officer of the Australia Tibet Council.

The decision not to meet the Dalai Lama has been heavily criticised by human rights advocates, who have pointed out that Mr. Rudd has not met the Dalai Lama as Prime Minister, a period during which he has held five one-on-one meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao, as well as multiple meeting with Premier Wen Jiabao and other senior Chinese figures.

“This is about more than a token meeting. It is an opportunity for the Prime Minister to discuss the Tibetan situation with the Dalai Lama and take a further concrete step to support a peaceful resolution,” said Mr. Bourke.

Li Keqiang’s arrival comes at the end of a week in which Chinese authorities confirmed the execution of two Tibetans in connection with protests and riots in Tibet’s capital last year. The executions are the first known to have been carried out in Tibet since 2003 and follow concerns that trials of Tibetans are being conducted in secrecy and in the absence of due legal process.

The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister have given repeated assurances to Australians that our relationship with China is sufficiently mature and robust for us to be able to raise concerns over human rights, Tibet and other sensitive relationships without suffering consequences to important economic ties. The case was evidenced strongly by last month’s signing of the record $50bn Gorgon gas deal in the wake of damning criticism from China over the decision to grant a visa to Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer.

Critics of the Prime Minister’s decision not to meet the Dalai Lama have also drawn comparisons with a seemingly more proactive approach of Barrack Obama. The US President, who has held discussions with the Dalai Lama by phone, recently sent a high-level delegation of US officials to Dharamsala to discuss the Tibetan situation with the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan officials. Mr. Obama has committed to meeting with the Dalai Lama before the end of the year. US officials reportedly told Tibetan officials that “this president is not interested in symbolism or photo ops but in deliverables.”

Following his decision not to meet the Dalai Lama, Mr. Rudd is yet to outline what steps he will be taking to sustain his commitment to supporting a peaceful resolution of the Tibetan situation.

For further information and comment:
Paul Bourke or Simon Bradshaw - Australia Tibet Council +61 (0)2 9283 3466