China claims proof linking Dalai Lama to unrest Beijing (AFP) March 18, 2008 China has evidence linking the Dalai Lama to the deadly unrest against Chinese rule in Tibet, Premier Wen Jiabao said Tuesday, as he called on the exiled leader to renounce independence ambitions. "We have plenty of evidence that proves that these incidents were organised, premeditated, masterminded and incited by the Dalai clique," Wen told reporters as he labelled the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner's actions "hypocritical." Wen said the Dalai Lama professed to be a man of peace who did not want independence for his homeland. But the recent deadly protests in Tibet and other areas of China with ethnic Tibetan populations showed this was not the case, according to Wen. Protests against China's 57-year rule of Tibet erupted into violent rioting in Lhasa last Friday, with Tibetans destroying Chinese businesses and houses. The Chinese government said Tibetan rioters murdered 13 innocent civilians in the riots in Lhasa and denied using deadly force to quell the uprising. However, exiled Tibetan leaders said on Monday that about 100 people, possibly hundreds, were killed in a crackdown on demonstrators in Lhasa and the other areas of China with ethnic Tibetan populations. China has sealed off the areas to foreign journalists, making it impossible to determine an exact death toll. Wen said the protests had been orchestrated to wreck China's image ahead the Beijing Olympics in August. "They want to undermine the Beijing Olympic Games," Wen said, insisting the event should not be politicised. "We should respect the principles of the Olympics and the Olympic Charter. We should not politicise the Games." On Monday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on China to open talks with the Dalai Lama amid mounting international unease over China's crackdown on the protests in Tibet that began last week. Wen said China was willing to hold talks, but only after the Dalai Lama gave up his independence ambitions, as he linked the Tibet issue with China's efforts to bring Taiwan under its political wing. "We have made it clear in a very serious manner that as long as the Dalai is willing to give up his propositions for so-called Tibetan independence and as long as the Dalai recognises that Tibet is an inalienable part of Chinese territory and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory, our door for dialogue with him is wide open," Wen told a press conference. Tibet's spiritual leader denies Chinese charges that he is a separatist seeking independence for Tibet and insists that he only wants a high degree of autonomy under Chinese rule. However, Wen blamed the Dalai Lama for anti-Chinese demonstrations at embassies around the world, as well as the protests in Tibet and elsewhere in China. "Are all these activities having nothing to do with the Dalai?" said Wen. "So I think when we watch the Dalai Lama, we should not only listen to what he says but also watch what he does." Wen also denied the Dalai Lama's claims that "cultural genocide" was going on on his homeland. "These claims that the Chinese government is involved in so-called cultural genocide are nothing but lies," Wen told reporters. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links China News from SinoDaily.com
Chinese Govt Declares Peoples War On Tibet As YouTube Access Cutoff To China Beijing (AFP) March 16, 2008 Tibet's government has declared a "people's war" to erase support for the Dalai Lama and end any independence aspirations of the people there, Chinese state media said Sunday. |
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