Tenzin Nyidon
DHARAMSHALA, Nov. 28: Members of the Canberra Tibetan community staged a protest on Monday as Zhao Leji, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, arrived in the Australian capital. Demonstrators called on Foreign Minister Penny Wong to raise China’s human rights violations in Tibet during her meeting with the senior CCP official.
Organised on short notice, the peaceful rally took place outside Parliament House, where Tibetans and supporters held placards demanding justice and accountability. Protesters urged Senator Wong to address issues including religious repression, restrictions on free expression, and Beijing’s interference in Tibetan spiritual traditions.
Participants carried banners reading, “The Next Dalai Lama by Tibetan Tradition, Not the CCP,” “Religious Freedom in Tibet,” “Freedom of Speech in Tibet,” “Open Up Tibet,” and “Human Rights in Tibet,” asserting that their voices “will not be silenced.”
According to the Australian federal government, Zhao’s visit featured a series of high-level engagements aimed at strengthening parliamentary exchanges and deepening diplomatic and people-to-people links between Australia and China. In public remarks, Zhao emphasised that the two countries share “complementary economic strengths” and a solid foundation for “practical cooperation across various fields.” He highlighted potential collaboration in energy, mineral resources, infrastructure, scientific innovation, the digital economy, and green development.
Zhao’s visit follows Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s trip to China in July this year, his second official visit, during which he met President Xi Jinping in Beijing and held talks with Premier Li Qiang at the Annual Leaders’ Meeting. Ahead of Albanese’s trip, the Central Tibetan Administration’s (CTA) President Penpa Tsering, in a live interview with ABC News in Sydney, called on the Australian leader to request direct and unfettered access to Tibet during his China visit. He argued that Beijing’s frequent portrayal of Tibet as a “socialist paradise” must be independently verified through on-the-ground observation.
During the same period, the Tibetan leader told the Australian Associated Press (AAP) that Australia has taken an overly cautious approach to China’s human rights record, warning that economic interests must not overshadow democratic values. He cautioned that China’s repressive influence extends beyond its borders, even into democratic nations such as Australia, noting that many Tibetans in the country are former political prisoners who self-censor out of fear that criticism of China could compromise their ability to secure visas to visit family members in Tibet.
President Tsering’s comments came as PM Albanese sought to stabilise and strengthen trade relations with Beijing. Despite the CTA President’s appeal for Albanese to publicly raise human rights abuses in Tibet, the Australian leader made no mention of rights concerns in his public statements following his meeting with Xi Jinping.
“As long as you have business, economic development, everybody feels comfortable and they don’t talk about human rights — everything goes under the carpet, that’s very sad,” Tsering told AAP.
He further added that Australia, as a democratic nation, should remain consistent in championing human rights and religious freedoms worldwide. As the Albanese government pursues deeper economic engagement with China, President Tsering also urged a reassessment of Australia’s trade dependence, arguing that continued business with Beijing ultimately strengthens a regime that uses its economic power to suppress fundamental freedoms.
