After months of fruitless attempts to communicate concerns about Tasmania's proposed $2 billion pulp mill, activists decided there was only one way to get through the ''firewall'' of minders. Write to Kevin Rudd in mandarin.

A letter written in classical mandarin calligraphy was sent by priority post to Mr Rudd on June 2 by Tasmanians Against the Pulp mill, or TAP as it is known.

Chief among its concerns was a warning to Mr Rudd not to ignore advice from outside his coterie, quoting a classical scholar Lu Jia who issued the same advice to his king.

The letter's opening quotation reads: ''Incompetent aides shielding a good king are like clouds overcasting the sun and the moon.''

TAP spokesman Bob McMahon said previous missives to Mr Rudd had been met with ''bizarre forest industry propaganda''.

Mr McMahon and his supporters want the Government to set up an independent review of the mill's approval processes which they say have ridden roughshod over environmental concerns.

In the English translation of the letter, Mr McMahon said Tasmanians were deeply concerned that the Government was hearing only one side of the story.

Last October, before the federal election both the Tasmanian and Howard governments gave the green light to the development in the Tamar Valley, north of Launceston, provided it met 48 environmental conditions.

'''Ignoring public voices and proceeding regardless is like 'plugging one's ears while stealing a bell','' TAP says in the letter.

''A spokesperson said the Rudd Government was ''working cooperatively with Gunns, the Independent Expert Group and the Tasmanian Government to ensure that the conditions of the approval are effectively implemented and provide the best possible environmental outcomes for Tasmania.''