“Some have called for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics Games ... I do not agree,” Rudd said in fluent Mandarin before an audience at the elite Peking University.

“But we also believe it is necessary to recognise that there are significant human rights problems in Tibet. As a long-standing friend of China, I intend to have a straightforward discussion with China’s leaders on this,” Rudd said.

Stressing his links with China, where he served as diplomat, Rudd won over the university students as well as local media, who hailed his strong language skills.

“China has an old saying ... Don’t fear heaven, don’t fear earth, but be very afraid when foreigners try to speak Chinese,” Rudd joked.

Rudd is the second visiting world leader to comment on the anti-government rioting that erupted last month in Tibet’s capital Lhasa and Tibetan-inhabited areas across western China.

Beijing claims it is handling Tibetan issues appropriately and has rejected calls for dialogue with Tibet’s exiled Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, whose supporters it accuses of orchestrating the violence.