E&OE
6 August 2008
Interview - AM Agenda, Sky News TV
PRESENTER: Joining me now in Canberra is the Foreign Minister Stephen Smith. Minister, thank you for your time.
STEPHEN SMITH: Pleasure Ashley. Good morning.
PRESENTER: Are you concerned that human rights may have been sacrificed by the Chinese authorities in an attempt to ensure a smooth running of the games?
SMITH: Well, so far as human rights in China are concerned, Australia raises on a regular basis our concerns about human rights in China; whether it's the Dalai Lama, whether it's Falun Gong, or whether it's Tibet generally. The Prime Minister and I have made these points in our meetings with Chinese officials and the Chinese leadership, and we make these points publicly. So we continue to be concerned about human rights and China, but we continue to raise these issues with the Chinese on a regular basis.
PRESENTER: Well overnight, President Bush has said that it's really just hard to tell, he says, if the situation is improving. That's just as much of a concern, isn't it?
SMITH: Well I think it's true to say that in the sweep of time, over the last quarter of a century, the last 30 years, China has made substantial improvements. Not just in human rights, but in other areas, such as trying to spread the economic benefits. But it is the case, regrettably, that we do continue to have very significant concerns.
When I was in Singapore, for example, recently for ASEAN-related meetings, I met with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang, and I again raised with him, as I had in Canberra in January this year, the Dalai Lama, and general questions about Tibet and human rights. And the Prime Minister, of course, I think is internationally well regarded for the speech he made at the Beijing University, raising human rights in Tibet.
So we continue to raise these issues with China. But more generally, China's engagement with the international community, particularly through the Olympics, is a very good thing. And it enables us to continue to make the point to China. We want China's engagement with the world, but we also want human rights in China to be respected.
PRESENTER: Well, you mentioned that Kevin Rudd has spoken out on this issue in China in the past. Can we expect to see a similar statement this time around?
SMITH: Well he's going to the Olympics opening, obviously. He's also meeting with the Chinese Premier and the Chinese President. And as we always do, these matters will be raised in the course of his conversations with them.
But I think it is important to make this point, the Olympic Games, the Olympic spirit, is an unambiguously good thing for China. And one of the reasons we were very strong on both raising our concerns about Tibet but at the same time saying we didn't see a boycott of the Olympics as being in any way useful was because China hosting the Olympics is a very good thing for China, and a very good thing for the international community.
So our first desire is of course to see the Olympic spirit celebrated widely - not just in China, but throughout the world. We think that's a very good thing for the world.
But we will continue as we always do to raise the human rights issues when we meet with Chinese officials.
PRESENTER: Well, of course, we saw that security incident in the north west of China a few days ago. How safe do you think these Olympics are?
SMITH: Well, where that occurred, with the Uighurs out in the far west is a long way from Beijing itself. Australians travelling to Beijing for the Olympics should register with our Smartraveller, and look at our travel advice. They should in the usual way exercise caution. But the Chinese authorities are very confident, both publicly and privately, that what's occurred in the west won't in any way be translated to Beijing. We obviously hope that we see a peaceful and friendly games, where not just for Australian visitors and tourists, but so the whole world can celebrate that in peace and harmony in Beijing.
PRESENTER: Well, keeping the security situation in mind, air pollution problems have been seen.
Do you think there is a feeling of regret in the international community that Beijing was given these games?
SMITH: I don't think that at all. It's certainly not the Australian Government's view. And if you recall in our own context with the Sydney Olympics, in the run up to the Sydney Olympics there was every complaint under the sun, and in the end, both for Sydney and for Australia, the Sydney Olympics were an absolute triumph.
And so in the run up to any Olympic Games, you'll have people drawing attention to concerns, or worried about conditions. And we're absolutely confident the Chinese authorities are doing everything they can to ensure that the international community and the world have the chance to celebrate a truly memorable Olympic Games.
But the fact that they're occurring in Beijing, bringing China into the international community more, is in my view an unambiguously good thing. It might be an old fashioned view, but the continued engagement with the international community by China is a good thing. It's that engagement which enables the world to press China on opening up, to be transparent, to respect human rights, and to do the sorts of things that we regard as second nature: freedom of the press, respect for the rule of law, respect for human rights.
PRESENTER: Well, you mentioned before the Olympic spirit. An IOC official overnight has claimed that doping in the Russian team is systematic, he says. How disappointing is it for our athletes. And how disappointing is it that other countries...
SMITH: Well obviously…
PRESENTER: …have different views?
SMITH: Sure. Obviously we want the Games to be a clean Games, and I think the Australian Olympic Committee and the Australian Sports Federation, and Australian sport generally, has been at the top of world efforts to stamp out drug use, to stop the abuse.
Regrettably other people don't take that same view, not necessarily nation states, but individuals.
So, any instance or any occurrence of that is obviously regrettable. And we not just expect our sporting bodies and our athletes to meet the highest standards; we also expect that of others.
We hope that these will be a clean Games, but we're not starry-eyed about it. We know that there's always a danger that some people will cheat.
That's entirely inconsistent with the Olympic spirit, and the Australian public, and I think the world public generally will take a very very dim view of anyone who's caught cheating.
PRESENTER: Well the Prime Minister has said he will raise the stalled WTO talks when he's in Beijing. Is there really any hope of China providing a greater access to its markets and for the broader Doha round of talks?
SMITH: Well we got very close at Doha and Simon Crean, our Trade Minister, has made the point publicly that he thought China played a positive and constructive role.
We haven't been out there sort of playing the blame game or isolating or indicating which country could have done better.
We got very very close, and we think, when the dust settles, it's worthwhile just reflecting on the good work that was done, how close we did get, and then see whether it's possible to resuscitate the good efforts.
And Mr Crean's made it clear, and the Prime Minister has made it clear, we will certainly, at the appropriate time, speak to the G7 states who are the key, the key initial group of countries in the Doha round to see whether there is a chance of rescuing this before the end of the year.
We were deeply disappointed; not good for Australia, not good for the world, and not good for people's living standards. We got very close, we'll see, we'll see whether it's possible to rescue it before the end of the year.
PRESENTER: Well moving away from China to a story that's been making international headlines today - this claims from the Rwandan Government that France played an active role in the 1994 genocide.
What's your reaction to that?
SMITH: Well, Rwanda of course was a terrible human tragedy, and one that the international community generally can't be proud of in terms of its response.
I have obviously seen the media reports. My understanding is my officials have yet seen the report. It's a 500 page report. So obviously we'd want to have a careful look at it.
But, I think Rwanda is one of those instances where we look back and say, that was a terrible tragedy. The international community should have, and needed to do more.
It's one of the reasons I think why there's an emerging discussion now about the notion of responsibility to protect; that international community does have an obligation to act much more quickly when we see these terrible human tragedies occurring.
PRESENTER: Well back home, The Australian is reporting today an exit poll that was taken after the last election. It showed that 30 per cent of Labor candidates at the last election had no faith in the US alliance. Is that a statistic that concerns you?
SMITH: Well I've seen that reference, and I've seen that candidate surveys conducted, you know, on a regular basis. Many members of candidates don't take part in it. I for example didn't take part in it. So I wouldn't place too much on that.
What we do know is that the Australian Government is very firmly committed to the alliance with the United States. It's enduring. It transcends politics here and in the United States, whether it's Labor, Liberal, Republican, Democrat; the alliance is ongoing. It's an indispensable part of the security and strategic and defence arrangements we have.
And the most recent expression of that was the Secretary of State's visit to my own home town in Perth, which was a very strong expression of the warmth and the friendship between our two countries.
Also visiting the home place of the alliance, you know, John Curtin's home town, where the alliance was forged in the darkest days of World War II.
PRESENTER: Well Perth probably doesn't know what's hit it with you bringing all these foreign diplomats…
SMITH: [Laughs].
PRESENTER: …home there. It might be growing in confidence. There are reports that Perth's looking at bidding for the 2018…
SMITH: As we should.
PRESENTER: …Commonwealth Games.
SMITH: As Perth should.
PRESENTER: You'd like to see Perth hosting them.
SMITH: Well, the last Commonwealth Games we had were so long ago we still then called it the British and Empire Games; back in 1962 at the stadium in Floreat which is about to be demolished and a residential complex built there.
So, anything which brings a world-class event to Perth, in my view is a good thing.
But also, Perth is now, you know, confidently going to the world. Strong economic growth. Close to India, Asia, and China. Perth has got a very bright future. And if we get the Commonwealth Games there, well then, even better.
PRESENTER: Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith, thanks for joining us on AM Agenda today.
[Ends]
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