‘MPs meeting with His Holiness Dalai Lama reflects Australia’s democratic strength’Sunday, 5 July 2009, 10:05 a.m.

Speaker of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile Penpa Tsering (seated right) and Kalon for Information and International Relations Kesang Y Takla (seated left) with federal parliamentarians representing the Australian All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet: Michael Danby (seated center); and from left: Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, MP Melissa Parke, Greens Senator Scott Ludlam, MP Hon Peter Slipper and Independent Senator Nick Xenophon poses for a photograph after a press conference in Dharamshala, India, on 3 July 2009/TibetSun

Dharamshala: Foreign
Minister Stephen Smith said the “Australian Parliamentary delegation’s 
meeting with the Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama
is a reflection Australia’s democratic strength”, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.Mr
Smith said Chinese officials had made a low level condemnation of a
meeting between the Australian parliamentary delegation and His
Holiness the Dalai Lama in India last week.”My attitude is
quite straightforward and clear. This is a reflection of Australia’s
democratic strengths,” he told the Nine Network on Sunday.”It
is entirely appropriate for a parliamentary delegation to visit India
and entirely appropriate for a parliamentary delegation to make contact
with the Dalai Lama if it so chooses.”In addition to meeting
His Holiness and senior officials of the Central Tibetan
Administration, the six-member Australian parliamentary delegation paid
visits to Tibetan cultural, educational and medical institutions, and
NGOs in Dharamsala.The delegation acknowledged the
extraordinary successes of the Tibetan people in Dharamsala and in many
settlements throughout India and overseas in building a vibrant and
flourishing community in exile. The delegation said it support
the “Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People” as a basis
for constructive negotiations on Tibet’s future and will continue to
encourage the Chinese Government to enter into sincere and substantive
discussions with the Dalai Lama or his representatives over the eleven
“subjects of governance” outlined in this important document.They also expressed their optimism for a possible visit to Tibet later this year. The
Chinese government has imposed a virtual martial law across Tibet since
Tibetans staged an unprecedented peaceful protests against its
oppression in March 2008, resulting in about 220
Tibetans dead and over 1,294 seriously injured in the crackdown.  Over
5,600 were arrested, 290 sentenced and more than 1,000 have simply
disappeared.Foreign
Minister Stephen Smith said Australia had made strong calls for China
to engage in dialogue with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and strong
remarks about Chinese human rights abuses in Tibet.Mr Smith
said China talked of emerging into a harmonious environment while
Australia talked in terms of China being a responsible international
stakeholder.”We are confident that will occur but we are not
starry-eyed about our relationship with China. There are a range of
things where we have differing views with China including human rights
issues,” he said.Related:Australian MPs visit Tibetan community in Dharamsala, express constructive support for Tibet