PM: It's good to be back in China and it's good to be back here in Beijing.
I've just had a good discussion over three quarters of an hour or so with Premier Wen Jiabao, which covered the breadth of our bilateral relationship.
In the days ahead I will also be meeting with President Hu Jintao and various other representatives of the Chinese Government.
It is good to be here in Beijing, primarily, to support the 434 Australian athletes participating in these the Games of the 29th Olympiad.
Our job here is to support the Australian team. They are Australia's ambassadors to the world at this important event. My job is to get behind them, and that's what I intend to do.
In my discussions with the Chinese leadership today and Premier Wen Jiabao, I thanked him for the physical preparations which have been made for these Games.
Yesterday I visited the Olympic village and spoke at length to a number of the athletes and coaches and physios. All were very complementary of the accommodation in the Olympic village and the physical arrangements which have been made for them in the village.
And so, on behalf of them I thank the Chinese organising authorities, as I did to Premier Wen Jiabao this morning.
Now, discussions today on the Australia China relationship, we emphasised the importance of this relationship to our two countries. This is a very strong, long standing, political relationship. A very important economic relationship. An important relationship in what China and Australia can also do together in the world.
We spent a lot of time talking about the current state of world trade negotiations and what happened most recently in Geneva with the suspension of the negotiations under the Doha round. Both Australia and China are committed to working closely together in the months ahead during August and September to see if our two Trade Ministers can work on a possible breakthrough on how we deal with the outstanding unresolved questions of special support measures for agriculture in developing countries.
So much progress was achieved in Geneva on bringing a successful conclusion to the Doha round. It was the view of both the governments of China and Australia that we need to exert every effort to try and bring these negotiations to a successful conclusion.
The Chinese Trade Minister Chen together with Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean, who is here with me in Beijing at present, will be meeting, and will be doing whatever we can at the diplomatic level to breathe life back into these negotiations. And, on the specific question of unresolved differences on the question of support mechanisms for agriculture in developing countries to work through how that gap can be breached in the negotiating postures of the various states.
Secondly, we also spoke about progress which has been achieved so far in the bilateral free trade negotiations between Australia and China. These negotiations have gone on for a long, long time. We need to achieve more progress. Since my visit here in March-April, we have made some progress.
Some progress in the most recent round of the negotiations, and a further round will be held in September.
Preparations are also being made for a business and services roundtable. And both the Premier and myself once again restated our public support for providing the political momentum necessary to try and get these negotiations through to a successful conclusion.
We need a good outcome on this bilateral FTA between China and Australia. China is Australia's largest trading partner. We therefore need to work with China on how we break down any remaining barriers of significance in our two way trade and investment relationship.
On the question of bilateral investment relations, we spoke at length about the importance of the energy and resources sector in the bilateral economic relationship. Important for Australia, important for China.
I emphasised to Premier Wen Jiabao that Australia, on the question of foreign investment in the Australian resources and energy sector, applies a non-discriminatory policy. The same approach we adopt with our friends in China we've adopted historically with our friends in Japan, the United States and elsewhere.
Australia has an open regime when it comes to foreign investment, one of the most open and liberal anywhere in the world. And that applies to our minerals and resources sector. And it's been that way for the better part of half a century. It will continue that way into the future.
Secondly, our policy is non-discriminatory between states, between companies as they come from various parts of the world, so long as those companies are adhering to market principles in their operations within Australia.
Finally, consistent with our practice in the past, we'll submit every foreign investment application to national interest tests. And we will continue to do so in the future. But Premier Wen and myself reiterated the importance of our long term cooperation in energy and resources as part of our overall economic relationship. Very important for both countries and I committed again Australia to being a long term reliable source of supply to China's long term energy and raw material requirements.
We also discussed the great challenge facing our common humanity, which is climate change. This is big for Australia, big for China, big for the world. And, in Beijing now, this is so much a logical, important subject for discussion as we wrestle to the great challenge of climate change.
Australia and China, as a result of our meetings here in Beijing in March-April, have agreed to establish an Australia-China climate change ministerial dialogue. That will have its first meeting in Canberra in November. And we're looking forward to those discussions with our Chinese friends.
In particular, I also discussed with the Chinese today the need to strengthen our bilateral cooperation on clear coal technology. We will be having particular further discussions with our Chinese friends in that ministerial dialogue in Canberra when we meet.
I also discussed with Premier Wen Jiabao the question of human rights. I also raised with him the question of religious freedom. I raised with him the question of Tibet. I raised with him the question of internet freedom. And we agreed that these matters will be pursued further in the continuation of Australia's bilateral human rights dialogue between Canberra and Beijing. And we believe that the next round of that dialogue will be scheduled for later this year.
Finally on the question of the recent suffering of the Chinese people with the earthquake in Sichuan.
I reiterated to Premier Wen Jiabao the extent to which all Australians had been moved by the huge loss of life - more than 70,000 people losing their lives in this extraordinary natural calamity which affected to many people in communities throughout Sichuan Province.
Sichuan Province is a province of, from memory, some 90 million people. And the devastation which has been brought across so many rural communities in Sichuan has been of heart rending proportions.
Premier Wen Jiabao reflected to me the appreciation of the Chinese Government and people to the more than $15 million of assistance provided by the Commonwealth Government, the State Governments, various city councils in Australia, including Brisbane and I believe Melbourne, together with the community appeals which were launched more generally by the Red Cross in Australia and by the Chinese community in Australia.
Tragedies like this remind us of our common challenge as human beings. Natural disasters are common challenges for our combined humanity and we need, therefore, as an international community to continue to work to be better prepared to meet such challenges in the future. We never know when natural disasters will strike again across our region.
I'm happy to take your questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, can you give us a better idea of exactly what you said on internet freedom, religious freedom, and Tibet?
PM: Well, I said to the Chinese leadership that on the questions of human rights, of religious freedom, of Tibet, and on internet freedom, that these continued to be concerns, that we would continue to prosecute these concerns with the Chinese leadership both through the discussions we have just had and through the bilateral human rights dialogue which lies ahead between Australia and China.
JOURNALIST: Do you think there's been any improvement as promised by China in winning the right to host these Games?
PM: What I know as a student of Chinese history going back a long, long time, if I was to be holding a press conference here when I first arrived in China as a diplomatic 25 years ago, and was to compare the level of civil and political liberties and economic freedoms of the Chinese people then compared with where we are now 25 years later, this has been a very large change.
Has it resulted in a perfect set of civil liberties, of course not. And that's why we continue to have a human rights dialogue, engagement, and points of disagreement with the Chinese. But let's acknowledge where changes have occurred. And let's also be equally frank about where changes still need to occur. And that's very much the tone of my conversations with the Chinese leadership in the past. And will be in the future.
JOURNALIST: Have President Bush's comments helped or hindered your ability to have a dialogue with China (inaudible)
PM: I haven't studied the full text yet of what President Bush was saying most recently in Bangkok, I've seen some press reporting of it. I'd rather read his entire speech.
We in Australia speak for ourselves, and I've said so in the past when I was here in Beijing. I said so when I was in Beijing last time, speaking at a public address at Peking University. Also in my bilateral discussions with the Chinese leadership then, as I have done with the leadership and these discussions with Wen Jiabao this morning.
JOURNALIST: How were those remarks received this morning? Did you sense something?
PM: Well I would prefer always for the Chinese Government to characterise their own position in their own language, and that's a matter for them.
My responsibility as the Prime Minister of Australia is to be frank about where I have seen, in response to the earlier question, changes, positive changes as having occurred. And, where we still believe changes can continue to need to occur. That's part of a mature dialogue with China, and I think that's important.
I also note for the record that when I was here last time speaking on the question of Tibet and the importance of a resumption of dialogue between China and the representatives of the Dalai Lama. Despite all of its imperfections, there has been some resumption of that dialogue.
This will be a slow process. Remember, I've indicated in the past that it's impossible in the space of several conversations over several months to change what have been deeply entrenched developments in Chinese history over many decades and many centuries. But let's acknowledge that in the period since China opened to the outside world from 1978, 30 years ago, there have been very large changes in terms of what is now possible for individuals to pursue in this country, while recognising at the same time that there is still problems on the human rights front which we have to deal with.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, if you look over your shoulder, what do you think of the pollution levels? Do you have any concerns for our team?
PM: Well, on the question of haze and smog in Beijing, I've noted carefully the comments this morning from the IOC from Mr Rogge. I confess myself not to be a scientist, I'll leave that province to others. What I do know, however, is the IOC has said that they will be taking regular monitoring of air quality. And if the IOC have concerns about the well being of athletes, that they will take appropriate action.
That strikes me as a responsible course of action. It's the right course of action. These things have to be subjected to science. And therefore, the burden lies very much with the IOC to make sure that happens. And as I understand the reporting today, from the IOC, not just every day or two, but every hour or two, they'll be monitoring air quality as the well being and health of our athletes is of first and foremost importance. Not just for Australia, but I'm sure for all the young people participating in these Games from around the world.
JOURNALIST: Are you disappointed though? I mean, it's the day of the opening ceremony, are you disappointed to see it so bad?
PM: Well, our friends in China are putting a lot of effort in terms of trying to bring down pollution levels. It's tough, it's a big challenge, and of course if you have a combination of pollution factors and haze factors it is always going to be difficult to deal with.
So, let's try and emphasise the positive in terms of what our Chinese friends are seeking to do here, while also emphasising the role of the IOC on the very specific challenge of making sure our athletes have their air quality monitored, regularly, each day of these games so it is not a problem for them.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, can I come back to the human rights front. (inaudible)
PM: I've been a student of human rights in China since I was in university more than 30 years ago. And my experience of dealing with our friends in China, it's always going to be an effective combination of private diplomacy as well as periodic public reminders of where the international community stands around critical international covenants such as the international covenant on civil and political rights which all states are party too.
Therefore, my approach is very much a combination of the two.
I believe, certainly in the case of my own dealings with the Chinese, it is effective to engage them bilaterally, effectively, clearly, but also respectfully in terms of where China has come in the last quarter century - over the last 30 years since the opening up of the, that started in the period since 1978.
This is complex challenge which doesn't lend itself to be neatly categorised as, you know, one thing or another. You have got to recognise progress where it has occurred, while reminding our Chinese friends where progress still has to occur.
JOURNALIST: Mr Rudd, are you concerned that ordinary Chinese are going to be unable to enjoy these Olympic Games, in the same way that Australians did in Sydney because of, you know, security, intense security, and I guess, access to events.
PM: Well there is 1.3 billion people in this country. I reckon it is a bit of challenge getting them in to see most of the events. You know, let's just face a few facts. There is 20 million of us in Australia, 1.3 billion Chinese. This is a bit of a logistical challenge.
But look, it was always going to be tough, in terms of getting proper access to individual events on the part of the local citizens. Talk to the people of Sydney in the year 2000, could everyone get into the events they wanted back then? I think that was pretty tough as well.
So, look, I can't answer on the details of that. There are so many Olympic events, I don't know how tickets have been allocated, distributed and the rest. That is a matter for the local authorities.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, analysts are saying that the Reserve Bank looks like it will slash interest rates next month. What would your message be to banks about passing on that cut?
PM: I say to the commercial banks in Australia that they have a responsibility to ensure that action by the reserve bank is reflected in the interest rate posture adopted by those commercial banks.
Furthermore, what the government has done since being elected is introduce bank account switching arrangements, so that now, it is much easier for customers, if they are unhappy with an individual commercial bank's response to the official interest rate changes, to switch their account.
In the past, that was really hard. We have made that as easy as possible. And we are seeking to ensure that those arrangements underpin the ability of consumers to literally vote with their feet, change their accounts, if one bank is not properly responding to changes in official rates by the Reserve Bank.
And the reason is that working families, Australian pensioners and carers, are under financial pressure, from rents, from mortgages, from all sorts of cost of living pressures, and therefore, if banks are not going to do the right thing, then we have tried to make it possible for customers to vote with their feet.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible)
PM: Well for somebody who has looked at these things for the last 30 years and I think the history of human rights in China has always been two steps forward, one step back. And it is important therefore, to look at things in the long historical view. It is tough, it is hard, it is difficult, but when I look back at the China of '76, when I first started studying Chinese for example, the China of ‘78, in the process of opening to the outside world began, the China of ‘89, in terms of what happened at Tiananmen, and what has happened since then it has been, as I said, a process of two steps forward, one steps back.
But lets' stand back from all that and say, if you are an individual Chinese citizen, in terms of the freedoms available to you, now compared with back then, there has been significant process, while saying in the same breath that there is much, much more progress that still needs to occur.
JOURNALIST: Which athletes did you meet in the village yesterday and what did you have to say to them?
PM: I met stacks and stacks of athletes. I wouldn't wish to name anyone in particular. I met a lot of rowers, who were hot and sweaty, who had just come back from (inaudible). I met our beach volleyballers. I also last night spent a lot of time, with practically every member I think of the Australian shooting team. There seem to be most of the disciplines represented. Judo, members of the Judo team. Members of the wrestling team, where the emphasised they were not Greco Roman wrestlers, they were freestyle. And of course many of our swimmers.
Can I just emphasise what I said before about the overall playback that I got from the athletes, is that they were really happy with the physical facilities at the village. And the level of support that is provided by the Australian Olympic Committee, in terms of the number of doctors, physios and support staff for the team, I didn't hear a word of complaint from our athletes.
Not to say something won't go wrong, but I am pretty impressed with the way the AOC has got the arrangements in place, as I am impressed by what the Beijing Olympic Committee has done in terms of the physical facilities of the village.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible)
PM: It's China, people speak Chinese. It's kind of, it has always been a bit of a problem, it's kind of life. I imagine Chinese athletes found it a bit tough in Australia back in 2000. But no, I have to say the athletes are really upbeat. It was really good to be among our athletes yesterday and last night.
Their attitude is really positive and they are really appreciative of the support they are getting from back home.
They are really appreciative of the fact that so many family members have been able to come to Beijing to support them as well, the Australians corporates who have got in there behind the Australian Olympic Team and the Australian Olympic Committee, and the physical facilities which have been made available to them in terms of what is available in the Olympic Village. So overall, I have got to say that the wrap from our athletes has been pretty good.
And I just say again what I said last night, for James Tomkins to be extended the great honour of being Australia's flag bearer - great honour for him, a 42 year old bloke, out there at the front, good on him. Great honour for him and an important role for Australia in what I think will be an extraordinary event at the opening of these games later this evening.