Motions — Tibet—Protests 
Motions — Tibet—Protests 
[Volume:646;Page:14951] 
Tuesday 18 March 2008 
Madam Speaker 
 took the Chair at 2 p.m. 
Prayers 
. 
Motions 
Tibet—Protests 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK (Prime Minister) 
: 
 I move  
That this House express its deep concern at reports of violence and riots in Tibet and subsequently elsewhere in China; call on all sides to show restraint; express its strong support for the right of people to protest peacefully; urge the Chinese authorities to react carefully and proportionately to protest; and urge China to engage in meaningful dialogue with representatives of the Tibetan people in order to achieve a lasting resolution of problems in Tibet 
. 
As members know the subject of Tibet has been very much in the headlines in recent days. The New Zealand Government is deeply concerned at the violence there and we are monitoring the situation closely. We have urged all involved to exercise restraint. We want to see an end to the violence. Although the latest reports from Lhasa indicate that the city is calm this does not necessarily mean the situation has been resolved. In New Zealand we respect the right of people to protest peacefully. We have urged the Chinese authorities to react carefully and proportionately to protest both in the handling of events as they arise and in the dealing with them in legal terms afterwards. The New Zealand Government has also long urged China to engage in meaningful dialogue with representatives of the Tibetan people. In our view this remains the best way to achieving a lasting resolution to problems in Tibet. 
The New Zealand Government’s views on this matter have been conveyed to the Chinese authorities. There was contact with those authorities over the weekend involving the New Zealand Ambassador to China Tony Brown. There was subsequent engagement yesterday with both the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese Ambassador here in New Zealand. It is my expectation that dialogue will continue through diplomatic channels. I am advised that the Chinese authorities have formally confirmed that they have taken note of the New Zealand Government’s concerns about the situation in Tibet. I welcome that advice and also China’s readiness to talk to us about developments. 
We have made New Zealand’s position very clear and will continue to do so. I am advised that the approach the New Zealand Government has taken is very much in keeping with that of other Governments that have expressed concern about developments in Tibet. It is my intention to raise these issues with the Chinese leadership when I next meet with it. If everything goes according to plan in relation to the proposed free-trade agreement that will be next month in Beijing. As members know human rights issues including those concerning Tibet are a regular feature of my discussions with Chinese leaders as they are of discussions at the ministerial and official level. 
This year is an important year for China as it prepares to host the Olympic Games. We have seen the enormous effort that has been put into preparations and we hope the games will be a success. It is no surprise that the issues that are now arising in respect of Tibet have focused international attention on China. The court of world opinion will judge how China manages these issues and any others that arise in coming months. The New Zealand Government very much hopes that China can demonstrate calm leadership befitting a country of its size and growing international role. 
In conclusion I advise that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has been aware of five New Zealanders in Tibet. All were understood to be planning to leave Tibet and at least one has already left. 
JOHN KEY (Leader of the Opposition) 
: 
 On behalf of the National Party I join the Government in voicing concern at the violence and loss of life in Tibet over recent days. Although the official reports are not yet clear as to the level of casualties or indeed the precise origins of some of the conflict what is clear is that the Chinese Government has engaged in a substantial imposition of military force in Tibet on a scale and in a manner that is unacceptable to the vast majority of New Zealanders. In supporting this motion today I want to make it very clear that the National Party supports the right of the citizens of Tibet to peaceful protest and calls upon the Government of China to respect that right. 
It has been a matter of some comment that these unfortunate events occur as New Zealand concludes negotiations for a free-trade arrangement with China. The National Party supports those negotiations as it supports free-trade negotiations generally because they can only advance New Zealand’s interests as a small nation very dependent on its capacity to trade. Nothing we have seen in Tibet in recent days affects that bipartisan support for the free-trade agreement but neither do the free-trade agreement negotiations affect our right—indeed our obligation—to speak up when we see a small group of people who are substantially unable to defend themselves treated in a manner that we find by our standards totally reprehensible. 
So today I urge the Chinese Government to heed the expressions of alarm in this country and many others. I urge it to respect the human rights of the citizens of Tibet and I urge it to seek dialogue rather than the imposition of force as the path towards solving the longstanding disputes in Tibet. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First) 
: 
 The Prime Minister has clearly set out New Zealand’s position on the emerging situation in Tibet. This is the worst unrest in that region in over 20 years and we have serious concerns about reports of violence looting and loss of life in Tibet. We are concerned that there have also been disturbances in other parts of China. It is imperative for the violence to stop; then it will be possible to find ways to manage and resolve the situation. We have urged China to demonstrate restraint and due care in its handling of the evolving situation in Tibet. Information on what has happened and why is still coming to hand. There are limited sources of information about the situation on the ground. We want to continue to engage China on this front as well as to hear from others about developments. 
We have let China know of our concerns through diplomatic channels and this dialogue will continue. New Zealand is a country that has long engaged China on the question of Tibet. We shared the concerns of the international community about events surrounding the 1959 uprising and its management. We have referred to Tibet many times over the years in United Nations processes and we have directly engaged China on the Tibet issue through bilateral channels since we established relations in 1972. We have long called for dialogue between the Chinese authorities and the representatives of the Tibetan people to discuss the problems of Tibet. Such dialogue is the best way to try to find an acceptable and lasting way forward. 
The Dalai Lama has visited this country four times and in his capacity as a spiritual leader he has met parliamentary figures here. My predecessor met him; I myself have met him. As I have told my Chinese counterpart as a Westminster democracy we do take the opportunity of people visiting our shores to meet them to hear their perspectives and to share our own. We know that China is sensitive about the Tibet issue; we listen to the Chinese perspectives just as we listen to other points of view. The consistent approach of successive Governments has been to take an interest in developments in Tibet and to engage the Chinese on this issue and the human rights situation there. 
We know there are a few New Zealanders in Tibet and we are pleased that they are safe and making plans to leave the region. We hope their departure will be smooth and safe. 
Some people have been calling for the Government to abandon its wish to sign a free-trade agreement with China because of the developments in Tibet. That is a matter for the Minister of Trade and for the Government to address. It is a case that economically speaking is for the proponents of such a free-trade agreement to make out but a unilateral trade boycott of China would be futile and not help any people. Political posturing over human rights issues would be no more sensible than past examples such as rushing to judgment in the 1980s only to have to rue such rash behaviour in the following years. I have to say that unilaterally abandoning trade and commerce with China over the Tibet issue will not advance New Zealand’s interests. We would lose our standing in that important and growing market at a time when there are growing concerns about the world economy. Any opportunities we forgo will be quickly taken up by others in our place. 
So let us talk with China about the situation let us get the facts let us register our concerns—as we have been doing—and let us contribute through our dialogue and good sense to efforts that might have a real chance of bringing about a resolution rather than our placating our temporary social consciences. 
KEITH LOCKE (Green) 
: 
 The Green Party will be supporting this motion although we would have liked it to be much stronger and to clearly take the side of the Tibetan people against their Chinese oppressors. 
The Green Party is concerned at our Government’s double standard. When the Burmese military suppressed Buddhist protests last year the Prime Minister said it was “simply unacceptable for peaceful protesters to be shot beaten or arrested.” But when it is the Chinese Government doing the same thing in Lhasa she simply calls on both sides to “show restraint” and calls for the authorities to act “carefully and proportionately”. We want the Prime Minister to speak the truth about the causes of the protests in Lhasa and other cities—that is the 50 years of denial of the rights of the Tibetan people and the ruthless suppression of any dissent. This is the Tibetan people’s hour of need; thousands of Tibetans are being rounded up for exercising their basic right to protest. Today the Tibetan people need a fearless public advocate not those who will mince words. 
New Zealand may be a small country but as we have seen on nuclear issues what we say does have an impact when it is clear and unequivocal. So far we have been weaker than other States. The French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has talked about “strong condemnation” coming from all the members of the European Council. New Zealand’s foreign policy is at a crossroads. Do we support a people whose human rights are being crushed by a dictatorial State or do we go soft in the interests of a preferential trade deal? In the 1980s we were labelled the mouse that roared when we stood up against the nuclear policies of the United States; are we now the mouse that only squeaks when the Tibetan people cry out for help against the Chinese superpower? Should we not show at least some of the bravery of those Tibetan monks who went out into the streets last week knowing that their probable fate would be years in a Chinese prison? 
This is not the time for wishy-washy words of diplomatic-speak; it is a time for clear passionate support for the Tibetan people. We must support the Dalai Lama’s efforts to achieve genuine autonomy for the Tibetan people within China not the fake autonomy we see now where Chinese settlers are pouring into Tibet and controlling its economic political and cultural life. The anger of Tibetan protesters last week was fully understandable. It was an explosion of pent-up resentment at decades of the denial of their national rights of the swamping of their culture. 
The Green Party believes we cannot separate the oppression of the Tibetan people from the preferential trade agreement New Zealand is about to sign with China. The low Chinese wages that will make it difficult for New Zealand firms to compete with Chinese firms under a free-trade agreement are the result at least in part of the lack of human rights—and labour rights in particular—of the Chinese people and the Tibetan people. Human rights should also be a factor in which countries we choose to have a preferential trade agreement with. Eyebrows would be raised if we entered such a preferential agreement with Robert Mugabe or the Burmese junta. I think in the light of the events in Tibet it would be wise to postpone the signing of any free-trade agreement until at least after the Olympics Games to give room for the New Zealand Government to engage in a public debate on the role of human rights—and particularly what is happening in Tibet—in our going ahead with such an agreement. It would allow a spotlight to be put on Tibet in the lead-up to the Olympic Games and during those games. 
It is great to read in the Christchurch  
Press  
this morning that Mark Todd who has two Olympic gold medals has said that he may well protest in some form if he is selected for the Olympic team. I am sure it would be a very dignified protest that he would carry out. There is in New Zealand a huge reservoir of support for the Tibetan people and I think the Government and many parties in this House are misjudging that support by using vague words and not talking openly directly and in a condemnatory fashion about what is happening in Tibet today. We owe it to the Tibetan people to do more than this motion does. 
Dr PITA SHARPLES (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 Three years ago in July 2005 when the chairman of China’s National People’s Congress arrived here at Parliament he did so by first snubbing the official powhiri that had been arranged in his honour. The explanation put forward by the then adviser to the Prime Minister Mike Munro was that the presence of the Tibetan flag being proudly flown by a lone protester would cause gross offence to the Chinese visitors. Unsaid was the fact that the decision to boycott our traditional protocols the powhiri to welcome Wu Bangguo to Aotearoa might also cause gross offence to the tangata whenua. Unsaid was the fact that the refusal to recognise the Tibetan flag might also cause gross offence to the people of Tibet. It is a matter of priorities. 
Today we are uniting as a House to express our concern about the fatal riots that have taken place in Lhasa. The National Party is alarmed and troubled and the Prime Minister is deeply concerned but do we have the backbone to do more than express our concerns? Do we have the backbone as a Parliament to make a strong statement that challenges China’s crackdown on the demonstration of Tibetan resistance? 
The demonstrations taking place now in Lhasa have been led by Buddhist monks and supported by crowds of everyday citizens. The results have been devastating. BBC sources report that at least 80 corpses have been counted while China suggests the death toll is but 10. This is not a guerrilla war a battle of terrorists. This is an action of peaceful defiance supported by the international leader of peace the Dalai Lama; the man who won the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize has now become a figure of public attack from Chinese authorities. The Dalai Lama has spoken out loudly and consistently calling for an inquiry into what he describes as cultural genocide and a rule of terror. 
What is the nature of the action that the Chinese authorities are seeking to suppress? The Dalai Lama’s command to the people has been “to address the long-simmering resentment of the Tibetan people through dialogue”. Dialogue—it is hardly the battle term for a premeditated all-out assault. 
What we do now in Aotearoa will be critical to how this dialogue evolves. Do we ignore the analysis of the Dalai Lama—that this is a cultural genocide? Do we support the Chinese officials’ declaration in calling for a people’s war? We are in the unique position to exert pressure. The world is watching us as our nation negotiates a free-trade agreement with China. We can use this bargaining power to advance the path of peace that our nation is known for. We must stand tall in promoting the peaceful resistance that was taken in 1835 by Moriori in the Chatham Islands; in 1881 when the people of Taranaki refused to fight at Parihaka instead drawing on peaceful traditions of passive resistance; the international reputation we gained when former Prime Minister David Lange stood against nuclear ships in the 1980s; the protests against nuclear testing at Mururoa in 1985; and the 1996 case taken to the World Court at The Hague. We must use this history and this tradition of the non-violent resolution of conflict to our greatest influence. 
We in the Maori Party bring the attention of the House to the call for fair trade not free trade and for ethical investment where human rights are not sacrificed for commercial imperatives. Aotearoa sits at the crossroads in the way in which we approach this trade deal with China. We have always considered the essential value of Treaty of Waitangi principles in the negotiation and confirmation of any trade agreement. Such principles may lead us logically to ask what the impacts are on New Zealand workers and businesses. Are the workers overseas exploited to benefit the New Zealand economy? Are there impacts on indigenous peoples among trading partners? 
The point is that at this fragile state of play we need to consider the wider human-rights context in which the trading partners are negotiating. Is the goal for a lucrative trade deal with China worth selling our soul for? We must speak out about the brutal people’s war which the Chinese authorities are promoting as necessary to “expose the hideous face of the Dalai clique to broad daylight.” When this so-called hideous face was last in Aotearoa in June of last year he was welcomed with a powhiri befitting the most distinguished of visitors. He did not choose to drive past to snub the mana whenua as they laid the foundations for his korero in the Vector Arena in Auckland. He responded to our welcome with true humility. In fact his graciousness was even present on the steps of Parliament when he responded to my colleague Hone Harawira’s spontaneous haka with characteristic warmth and delight. 
The message of His Holiness in his visit last year was one of compassion. When he was asked: “How do we stop abuse and violence?” his response was startling in its simplicity. He said: “One random act of kindness at a time.” The violence and riots that are being committed against people of prayer people of discipline and people of tradition concern us all. The free-trade agreement offers us an excellent opportunity to challenge the Chinese Government’s human rights record. We must build on the platform of peace that the people of Aotearoa are so proud of. We must take bold steps to demonstrate our support for the rights of the Tibetan people to self-determination. We must be brave on the world stage in calling on the Chinese authorities to engage in peaceful and meaningful dialogue that will ensure the protection of Tibetan culture. The Maori Party calls on this Parliament to demonstrate one random act of courage today by speaking out against the violence that began in Tibet’s main city Lhasa. We cannot be mute while the world watches on. Thank you. 
JUDY TURNER (Deputy Leader—United Future) 
: 
 United Future joins with other parties in strongly condemning the actions of the Chinese Government and the People’s Liberation Army in quelling the protests in Tibet and Southern China. The right to political protest is a crucial plank of the right to freedom of speech and to see that suppressed through violent means indicates to the world that China has a long way to go before fully deserving the respect of the international community it so desperately seeks. 
At times like this United Future would expect to join all parties in strongly condemning the Chinese Government’s violent response to protests in Tibet. However it is sadly obvious that the Labour Government has bigger fish to fry than to uphold an oppressed people’s political freedoms and fundamental human rights. Worse still it appears to the world that New Zealand’s timid response has simply been bought by Chinese yuan. The response of the Government has been to stall saying that more information is needed. It is thinking that hopefully the situation will blow over and that maybe if the People’s Liberation Army can crush the dissension quickly enough it might be able to sneak over to Beijing sign on the dotted line and still gain the plaudits of being the first country to sign a bilateral free-trade agreement with China. How much is it to buy New Zealand’s moral conscience? It seems to be about $2 billion in real GDP terms if the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has its figures right. 
New Zealand has a fine history of standing up for what we know is morally right. Let us take for instance the anti-apartheid movement the antinuclear stance or our annual commitment to refugees. However this Government seems reluctant to use its privileged relationship with China to express New Zealand’s outrage. Although United Future does not argue that we should cut off our nose to spite our face a free-trade agreement is a two-way street. At present the Government makes it seem as though China is doing us a favour but it must be remembered that China stands to increase its GDP by US$14.7 billion through this agreement. New Zealand is thus in a strong bargaining position—stronger in fact than most other nations. 
So we believe that it is up to this Government to strongly voice our nation’s concern. As a proud New Zealander the very least I would expect is for the Prime Minister to summon the Chinese Ambassador and in no uncertain terms express our nation’s disappointment and disapproval—or are we so subservient in this relationship that we cannot even do that? 
United Future leader Peter Dunne hosted the Dalai Lama last year—an honour made strange by the fact that the Prime Minister refused to meet with the Tibetan leader. At the same time not a lot was really made of this fact. Maybe now we are truly seeing which side of the fence this Government sits on. With our Government continuing to abdicate its responsibility in this regard it will now sadly be up to individuals and in particular athletes to voice our nation’s concerns. 
Although it is too late to question whether China should ever have been granted the Olympic Games the upcoming event is the obvious opportunity for New Zealand along with the rest of the international community to make a stand. The Olympic Charter states that any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race religion politics gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic movement. The charter states: “Blending sport with culture and education Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy found in effort the educational values of good example and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles.” The events in Tibet and countless other human rights violations in China not only now but historically have made a mockery of these words and ideals. I truly hope that New Zealand athletes are given the option and the opportunity to make peaceful protests if they so wish and that the New Zealand Olympic Committee backs them to do so in what I am sure will be challenging circumstances. 
RODNEY HIDE (Leader—ACT) 
: 
 On behalf of the ACT party I rise to support the Prime Minister’s statement today. I also join with the Green Party United Future and the Maori Party in saying that ACT wishes the condemnation would grow stronger. We wish that we—as a Parliament and as a country—and our Government would stand up for human rights everywhere particularly against Governments that are so keen to suppress them with such uncalled for violence. But we disagree with the Maori Party the Green Party and United Future that we should somehow de-link the free-trade agreement and use the Olympics to make something of a political statement. 
I leave the House with this thought. Far more has been done for human rights in China with China opening its borders up to the world than by it keeping itself closed. As the Chinese people see the world around them unfiltered by their Government they actually gain an appreciation of human rights and the virtues of democracy. That is the charge that New Zealand should lead with free trade contact and sporting contact with the Chinese people. We should bear in mind that it is not the Chinese people who are actually committing these atrocities; it is the Chinese State Government. The interactions with trade and sport reach across to the people of China. 
So yes let us condemn these atrocities and stand up for the human rights of the Tibetan people—and indeed the Chinese people who are so oppressed—but let us see that with free trade and with sporting contact we are in fact advancing the cause of human rights everywhere. Thank you. 
Hon JIM ANDERTON (Leader—Progressive) 
: 
 I will give just a brief response from the Progressive Party. I think the House does not need to think very long or hard to understand that during the Cultural Revolution when China was more isolated than in any other time in recent history things got worse for the Chinese people not better and worse for others around them not better. It is by opening up the Chinese economy and society to contact with other nations whether be through the Olympic Games or through free-trade agreements that we will make the most advances in relation to China joining the Western World in terms of democratic processes and so on. So I think the Prime Minister the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Trade in leading that engagement are doing the work that all New Zealanders would want them to do and I can only applaud them for it. 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK (Prime Minister) 
: 
 In reply I say that the Government appreciates the support of other parties for the motion I have moved today but we do distance ourselves from some of the intemperate comments that have been made. I would like to agree strongly with the statement introduced into the debate by Rodney Hide that supporting the opening up of China and its engagement in the international community is probably the most powerful thing we can do to support change in China for the medium and long term. China has an authoritarian political system. It is my hope that in my lifetime that will change because China will be drawn into the world community and its people will be able to travel be educated offshore and see more of the rights that we are able to enjoy in countries like ours. 
New Zealand Governments will always uphold the right of peaceful protest. We will never uphold any right to violent protest. Regardless of whether the protest in Tibet was peaceful or violent the Chinese authorities should react proportionately to that and they should resolve to enter into dialogue with the representatives of the Tibetan people including the Dalai Lama. It is my understanding on advice from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade that the reaction of the New Zealand Government to what has happened in Tibet is at the upper end of reactions from Governments around the world. That is what New Zealanders would expect of us and it is consistent with New Zealand’s being prepared to raise human rights issues with the Chinese leadership and officialdom on a very regular basis. 
Motion agreed to.