Tibetan monks demanding the return of the Dalai Lama won their strongest international backing yet when President George Bush and Kevin Rudd, the Australian Prime Minister, raised concerns over the Himalayan region yesterday.

Mr Bush urged Beijing to “begin a dialogue” with representatives of the Dalai Lama as part of a drive to ease the situation in Tibet. “If they ever were to reach out to the Dalai Lama they'd find him to be a really fine man, a peaceful man, a man who is anti-violence, a man who is not for independence but for the cultural identity of the Tibetans,” Mr Bush said.

His comments came as Downing Street confirmed that Gordon Brown would not be attending the opening ceremony of the Beijing Games in August. He will attend the closing ceremony instead.

Mr Rudd used his visit to Beijing to decry human rights problems in Tibet. Speaking in fluent Chinese to students at Peking University Mr Rudd voiced his opposition to any boycott of the Beijing Olympics but took the opportunity to press China to end the unrest in Tibet through dialogue. He said that he wanted more candid discussion with China about human rights and would raise his concerns when he meets Chinese leaders today.

“Australia, like most other countries, recognises China's sovereignty over Tibet. But we also believe it is necessary to recognise there are significant human rights problems in Tibet,” he said. Mr Rudd, who urged all parties concerned to find a solution through talks, added: “We wish to see the year 2008 as one of harmony and celebration, not one of conflict.”

The governor of Tibet Qiangba Puncog, responding to comments by Mr Rudd, said that the human rights of more than 95 per cent of Tibetans have never been better and that the comments of some foreign leaders were unnecessary.

But even as the governor asserted that order had been restored to the deeply Buddhist region, where demonstrations led by monks worsened into deadly violence against ethnic Han Chinese on March 14, Tibetan lamas gave the lie to his words.

About 15 Tibetan monks braved arrest yesterday to stage a demonstration demanding the return of the exiled Dalai Lama in front of a government-organised group of visiting journalists. When the journalists entered the Labrang temple in northwestern Gansu province, on the border with Tibet, the monks burst out of a building, shouting in Tibetan and carrying a banned Tibetan flag.

Lucy Hornby, a correspondent for Reuters, said: “They were hollering in Tibetan, holding up banners with slogans in Tibetan. They were extremely emotional and we had difficulty to calm them down.”

Other monks gathered around, swelling the crowd to about 30 people. One young monk, on the edge of tears, said: “The Dalai Lama has to come back to Tibet. We are not asking for Tibetan independence, we are just asking for human rights. We have no human rights now.” Officials did not try to interfere but several older monks persuaded the young monks to disperse, Ms Hornby said.

Times Recommends

• Would you live on the wrong side of the Berlin Wall?
• Wish you were here, says Iraq tourist board
• Russian policeman’s corruption plea to Putin