Cameron fails to speak out for human rights in Tibet

Cameron failed to speak up publicly for Tibet and human rights to the Chinese government and public during his two day trip to Beijing on 9 &10 November.

It is reported that Mr Cameron “raised human rights” with Premier Wen Jiabao in a private meeting on 9 November. It is not known what he said.

David Cameron talked about the need for political reform in China in his speech to students at Peking University on 10 November, but stopped short of raising human rights concerns in China. He said to journalists: “We don’t raise these issues [human rights] to make to us look good, or to flaunt publicly that we have done so. We raise them because the British people expect us to, and because we have sincere and deeply held concerns. And I am pleased that we have agreed the next human rights dialogue between our two governments for January.”

The UK-China Human Rights Dialogue that Mr Cameron is using to excuse his silence has completely failed. Thirteen years of the Dialogue has failed to deliver results and has become a cosmetic, tick-boxing exercise aimed at deflecting criticism. The failure of the Dialogue is further evidenced by the fact that, at the request of the Chinese government, dialogue has taken place only once in over 18 months despite being scheduled to take place twice a year.

Representing Britain means representing the British people not just British businesses; Mr Cameron has let down the British public by not raising human rights concerns, including Tibet, to reflect the values of his electorate.

What the British public thinks

An ICM poll* commissioned by Free Tibet published on 5 November reveals that three out of four Britons believe that protecting human rights in Tibet is at least as important as good trade relations with China. Only 13 per cent of the population think that maintaining good trade relations with China is more important than protecting human rights.

The poll also reveals that more than half of British adults (58 per cent) believe that Tibet should be independent. The British public rejects China’s occupation of Tibet, with only 3% believing Tibet should continue to be ruled by China.

The poll shows that:
• 1 in 3 British adults believe that protecting human rights in Tibet is more important than good trade relations with China;
• 3 out of 4 think that protecting human rights in Tibet is at least as important as maintaining good trade relations with China;
• More than half of British adults believe Tibet should be independent;
• More than three quarters believe Tibet should be either independent from China or autonomous.

What do you think?

*ICM Research interviewed a random sample of 1,000 adults aged 18+ by telephone from 29 October – 1 November 2010. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults. The poll was commissioned by Free Tibet.