John Della: They've been incarcerated and tortured to give up their belief in Falun Gong in labour camps and gaols in China. Zhou Yongkang has been one of the Chinese officials in charge of overseeing and directing that torture.

Presenter: Directly?

John Della: The command system under the Chinese Communist Party and Zhou has been at the top of that.

Presenter: According to Rothwell, Professor of International Law at the Australian National University, the case faces two problems: diplomatic immunity and applying Australian law to events in China. He says it brings to mind the Pinochet case.

Professor Donald Rothwell: The celebrated Pinochet case in 1999 is where Spain sought to issue an arrest warrant against Augusto Pinochet the former Chilean dictator and in that case sought his arrest and extradition from the United Kingdom for similar charges based on torture. Legally the case was a success it was just that ultimately the British attorney general failed to grant the warrant and it certainly did raise the issue as to whether or not for crimes of torture immunity could be enjoyed by former heads of state and that may well be the sort of issue that would seem to be raised in this instance.

Presenter: Long shot though here in Australia yes?

Professor Donald Rothwell: Yes, that's fair to say.
Presenter: Zhou Yongkang arrived in the resources state of Western Australian on Tuesday [November 4, 2008] where he met with the state Premier and Foreign Minister Stephen Smith ahead of meetings in Sydney. Foreign Minister Smith said the visit was a very significant one, with talk covering: The United States, the global financial crisis and Chinese foreign direct investment in Australia.

Stephen Smith: A very significant visit by Mr Zhou…it's not just a trade and investment visit though, the trade and investment is very important to us, but earlier this year I conducted in Canberra the first strategic dialog with Foreign Minister Yang. I'm going to China in the first quarter of next year to if you like the return leg and I made the point to Mr Zhou over lunch that Australia sees the US China relationship as being very important and very significant and as China emerges in the course of this century as India emerges in the course of this century as we find the shift of influence towards the Asia Pacific.

Presenter: Mr Zhou will meet with the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, although the Chinese Embassy unusually has not publicised the visit, there was no comment on the Supreme Court application from a media spokesperson travelling with the delegation. John Della Acknowledges the limitations of the legal action, but says the hope is to raise awareness.

John Della: To let the Government know that this issue is not something they should be treating lightly.

Presenter: Would you be expecting Kevin Rudd to raise China's human rights record when he meets Mr Zhou?

John Della: I would expect him to do that, because that's his commitment and I think it's just a matter of overcoming the fear of what may happen. Once that fear is overcome, then we could actually move forward and have a decent relationship with the people of China.

www.radioaustralia.net.au/programguide/stories/200811/s2414008.htm

Posting date: 10/Nov/2008
Original article date: 7/Nov/2008
Category: Media Report