China premier attacks Dalai Lama

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has accused the Dalai Lama of masterminding recent violence in Tibet’s main city, Lhasa. Speaking at the close of parliament, Mr Wen also said that the exiled Tibetan leader’s claim of “cultural genocide” in Tibet was nothing but lies.

China’s response to the violence had been restrained, the premier said.

China says 13 people were killed by rioters in Lhasa. Tibetan exiles say at least 80 protesters were killed in a crackdown by Chinese security forces.

The Dalai Lama, who in 1989 was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his consistent opposition to the use of violence in the quest for Tibetan self-rule, has repeatedly called for dialogue with China.

The protests began on 10 March - the anniversary of a Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule - and gradually escalated, culminating in a day of violence late last week.

The demonstrations have also spread to Tibetan communities in Gansu and Sichuan provinces.

‘Seeking independence’

Mr Wen’s comments - his first since the violence broke out - came in response to a question by a Western journalist at a press conference following the close of parliament.

He defended China’s handling of the violence, accusing protesters of robbery, arson and violence, and said Tibetan exiles had instigated the violence. “There is ample fact and plenty of evidence proving this incident was organised, premeditated, masterminded and incited by the Dalai clique,” he said.

“This has all the more revealed the consistent claims by the Dalai clique that they pursue not independence, but peaceful dialogue, are nothing but lies.”

In recent years, Tibetan exiles have accused the Chinese government of trying to eradicate Tibetan culture.

As Tibet has developed, Han Chinese have poured in and now dominate the economy, while the authorities continue to control aspects of Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetans are now a minority in Lhasa.

Olympic ’sabotage’

But Mr Wen insisted China was helping to improve the livelihoods of Tibetans.

“These claims that the Chinese government is involved in so-called cultural genocide are nothing but lies,” he said.

The Chinese premier accused the protesters of trying to sabotage the Beijing Olympic Games, which begin on 8 August.

On Monday, European Union ministers ruled out a boycott over Tibet, saying it would only punish athletes.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called on both Chinese forces and demonstrators to show restraint.

In Tibet, large numbers of police are patrolling the streets of the regional capital, Lhasa, and at midnight on Monday (1600 GMT) a Chinese deadline for protesters to surrender passed.

But the BBC’s Quentin Sommerville in Beijing says that people outside of China have been placing far more emphasis on the deadline than is the case inside the country.

In effect there has not been a deadline, our correspondent says, but instead a rolling crackdown with Chinese security forces moving through the city, going door to door, to root out and detain the instigators of the unrest.

China says Tibet has always been part of its territory but Tibet enjoyed long periods of autonomy before the 20th Century and many Tibetans remain loyal to the Dalai Lama, who fled in 1959.

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