China has ignored Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's appeal to address human-rights abuses in Tibet, responding with a warning to foreign governments to keep out of its internal affairs.
Mr Rudd raised Tibet and the Olympics during a meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Beijing yesterday, but his call for a dialogue to resolve the situation peacefully was not heeded.
"Their position today was consistent with the public position China has adopted in recent times ... we have a different view, that is quite plain," Mr Rudd said.
Mr Rudd met Mr Wen in the opulent surrounds of Beijing's Great Hall of the People, where he took part in an inspection of the honour guard involving more than 100 members of China's armed forces.
China's foreign ministry said foreign governments had no right to interfere in the country's internal affairs.
After meeting with Mr Wen for more than 212 hours, Mr Rudd described the discussions as "good and solid" but admitted the pair had failed to see eye to eye on the question of human rights in Tibet, which he bluntly stated on Wednesday was a "significant problem".
In Britain, the Independent newspaper praised Mr Rudd for his stance on Tibet.
Its editorial spoke highly of his strong stance on security for the Olympic torch relay in Australia and his plea for China to open dialogue with Tibet.
"The world needs more leaders like this; we hope he has started as he means to go on," the editorial said.
In Canberra, organisers of the Olympic torch relay vowed not to change the route suddenly, as happened during farcical scenes in San Francisco where thousands of supporters were denied the chance to watch the parade.
ACT torch relay taskforce chairman Ted Quinlan said last night, "We are 99.9 per cent confident we can traverse the 20km we have set.
"It's just not possible for any human being to predict every eventuality so we will look at worst-case scenarios and make some contingency plans."
Mr Quinlan assured Canberrans they would be safe attending two big celebratory events at the beginning and end of the torch relay and said that the reports from San Francisco showed there had been great support for the relay.
Meanwhile, the expected influx of protesters to the ACT has blown out the cost of providing security for the event on April 24 to more than $1million.
The running of the Canberra leg was expected to cost $900,000 but the AFP is now calling in reinforcements to cope with the large crowds of supporters and protesters expected to line the course.
ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said he would ask the Federal Government to pay for the cost overrun which is unknown but will be much higher than the original estimate.
A spokesman for Attorney-General Robert McClelland said the Commonwealth would consider the request.
Mr Stanhope said he didn't "have a number" at this stage of much security would cost.
"We're continuing to assess the security needs, so at the end of the day the final cost of security on the day could be quite significant."
The event should go ahead and Mr Stanhope repeated that abandoning it would humiliate China and not improve human rights.
The Federal Government vowed again yesterday that the relay would go ahead in Canberra, the only Australian appearance of the Olympic flame, providing the global event was not scrapped beforehand.
However, International Olympic Committee chief Jacques Rogge said the week-long protests targeting the relay by groups critical of China had thrown the Olympics into "crisis".
He said there were no plans to scrap the global torch relay, but called on China to respect its commitment to improve human rights ahead of the Beijing Games.
Mr Rogge said Chinese officials promised when they made their bid to host the 2008 Olympics that being awarded the Games would "advance the social agenda of China, including human rights".
"We definitely ask China to respect this moral engagement," he said.
In San Francisco the relay descended further into farce when organisers changed the route to avoid more protests.
Hundreds of baton-wielding police herded the Olympic torch through the city after the change of route which sparked a game of cat-and-mouse with pro-Tibet protesters.
After the parade was shortened by half, a planned closing ceremony for the United States leg was cancelled and moved to the city's international airport, leaving supporters who had turned out to see the flame disappointed and confused.
The flame is now headed for Buenos Aires where more protests are planned.
Australia will allow only two blue tracksuited Chinese "flame attendants" for the relay in Canberra. Mr Rudd said any representatives of the Beijing Olympic committee would be in a bus, not on the ground in Canberra. The only reason the men would have to get off the bus was if the flame was extinguished and needed to be relit.
The relay will start at Reconciliation Place and end at Commonwealth Park on April 24. with agencies
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