CANBERRA—Any suggestion that Australia is refusing to condemn China's crackdown on Tibetan protesters in order to protect trade deals is simply wrong, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith says.
He said the Rudd government had been tougher with China than the previous Howard government had ever been.
"The messages we've been sending publicly and privately to China are more robust messages about China and human rights than have been sent in the decade before," Mr Smith told Sky News.
"We've called for restraint and we've made it clear we're very uncomfortable and very unhappy with what we've been seeing."
Asked if the Rudd government had refused to condemn China's tactics outright in order to protect trade deals Mr Smith replied: "I don't think that analysis is right."
"Yes we have a very important economic relationship with China, but we've made it clear ... that we will continue to raise human rights issues and the questions and issues about Tibet on an ongoing and regular basis."
Mr Smith said the government's tough talking had led to a senior Australian official being granted access to the Tibetan capital Lhasa as part of a diplomatic delegation. "They (China) certainly noticed what we've been saying otherwise we don't believe that we would have been invited to form part of the delegation," Mr Smith said.
Mr Smith said the Australian official would check on the safety and welfare of around 20 Australians in and around the Tibetan capital.
He also stressed that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd would discuss the Tibetan crisis with US President George W Bush during his stay in Washington.
And on the Chinese leg of his overseas trip Mr Rudd would "of course raise these issues", Mr Smith added.
But the foreign minister again said he wouldn't support a boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games.
Mr Smith said boycotting the opening ceremony was "not a sensible approach".
"We should use the fact that the Olympics are in China to engage China in an ongoing way about these matters," he said.
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