Chinese ambassador to Australia Zhang Junsai (章均賽) wrote to Labor backbencher Michael Danby urging against his attendance at a pro-Tibet rally, saying it was meant to “tarnish the image of the Chinese government and impair China-Australia relations,” an Australian official said.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith congratulated Danby for “politely” resisting the request.
“For myself, I think Mr Danby made the right decision and I support him fully,” Smith told reporters.
PHOTO: EPA
“A diplomat is not entitled to somehow seek to direct an elected official or an elected Member of Parliament in how he or she might conduct himself or herself,” he said. “They’re entitled to put a view, but they’re not entitled to try and seek to direct.”
Pro-Tibet protesters tried to break through a police line guarding the Chinese embassy yesterday as they gathered in Canberra to mark the 50th anniversary of a failed uprising against China.
A dozen activists tried to breach the line during the march in support of Tibetan independence and there was a heated exchange between demonstrators and an embassy official when he came out to photograph the group.
Police told reporters they made four arrests for breach of the peace, including one man who threw his shoes at the building. About 150 people converged on Parliament House ahead of the march for a peaceful rally in support of Tibetan independence from China. Bearing flags and banners, they were joined by representatives from Australia’s major political parties.
Greens leader Bob Brown called on Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to declare what he said was widespread Australian support for Tibetan autonomy.
“What we need is political leaders ... who have got the gumption to reflect that Australian call to the Chinese dictators to give Tibet back its freedom, its peace and its rights,” Brown told the rally.
“Today is a day to celebrate the strength of the Tibetan people and their perseverance, and to commit ourselves to continuing the struggle,” Tibetan community spokesman Tsewang Thupten said. “We are also commemorating the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Tibetans and millions who are still under the Chinese occupation.”
Rudd won praise in Australia during a visit to Beijing last April when he raised concerns about human rights in Tibet and urged the Chinese government to hold talks with exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
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