ABC RADIO NEWS ITEM, THURSDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 7

From: World Tibet Network News, Friday, September 8, 1995

The Chinese government says it's looking into an incident earlier this week in which the Australian Ambassador and two Australian Tibetan women were jostled and jeered by Chinese authorities. Australia's Ambassador to China, Michael Lightowler, lodged an official complaint over the incident, but China correspondent Camille Funnell reports the Chinese Foreign Ministry has indicated the Ambassador may have been at fault over the incident:

"A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman says authorities have heard of the incident and are looking into the matter, but he says everyone at the NGO Forum should obey the regulations. When asked if his comments meant Beijing was accusing the Ambassador of being at fault over the incident, the Foreign Ministry spokesman merely replied "Such an unpleasant incident could have been avoided if people acted in keeping with the regulations'. Camille Funnell, Beijing."