Question 4
KEITH LOCKE (Green)to the Prime Minister:
What has the Government done to extend a welcome to the Dalai Lama during his current visit to New Zealand?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK (Prime Minister):
The Dalai Lama is not an official visitor. He was facilitated at airports, and police have made their own operational decisions about his security.
Keith Locke:
Does the Prime Minister not think it is somewhat inconsistent to take a strong stand on human rights in Fiji, yet refuse to meet the Dalai Lama officially in Wellington to discuss the appalling human rights situation in Tibet and how New Zealand might help to alleviate it?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK:
On a number of occasions I have raised with Chinese leaders the issue of the treatment of people in Tibet, and I will continue to do so.
Keith Locke:
Is the Government so desperate to get a free-trade deal with China that it would forgo an official meeting with the Dalai Lama while he is here, and sacrifice our moral right as a nation to speak out on human rights issues as we wish and to meet such internationally reputable figures?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK:
No, that question is absurd. As I told the member in an earlier answer, I have regularly raised the issue of Tibet with China’s leaders.
Keith Locke:
Does the Prime Minister welcome the Dalai Lama’s support for New Zealand’s courageous antinuclear stance in the face of intense criticism from a great power; and does she not think it would be similarly courageous to stand up to pressure from another great power not to openly support the rights of the Tibetan people, and to meet its leader?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK:
I welcome any support for New Zealand’s nuclear-free policy. I can assure the member that pressure is normally counter-productive.