Hobart, September 26. The National Conference of the ruling Australian Labor Party today passed a resolution condemning the "widespread human rights abuses occurring in Tibet" and calling for "the abandonment of China's population transfer policy". The resolution calls upon China to open up Tibet to international scrutiny, and in particular to allow "international human rights and relief organisations as well as independent journalists" to enter the region. It also calls for the "commencement of earnest negotiations between the government of the People's Republic of China and the Tibetan government in exile over the future status of Tibet and of relations between the Tibetan and Chinese peoples". Labor Party policy now "recognises the unique cultural and ethnic identity of the Tibetan people", and "notes Tibetan claims that Tibet was an independent nation prior to the illegal Chinese invasion and occupation of 1949/50". "Labor commends the Tibetan people, and their leader the Dalai Lama, for consistently rej

ecting the use of violence in their search for a resolution to the current situation in Tibet." The resolution requests the "Australian Government to take all appropriate steps to ensure that its views are brought to the attention of the government of the People's Republic". This is the first time the National Labor Party has adopted a policy on Tibet, although both the New South Wales and Victorian State Branches have stronger policies which, among other things, categorically recognize Tibet as an independent country prior to the Chinese invasion. (EuroTibet News N·3)