China blames Dalai Lama for Tibetan violence
Tuesday, 18 Mar 2008 15:36
Chinese premier Wen Jiabao blames recent violence in Tibet on Dalai Lama.
Chinese premier Wen Jiabao has laid the blame for the recent violence in Tibet at the feet of exiled leader the Dalai Lama.
According to Tibetan exiles, at least 80 people have been killed since protests calling for self-government erupted into violence last week.
However, Chinese authorities have claimed to have exercised restraint in quelling the riots in Lhasa, adding that only 13 "innocent civilians" died.
And Mr Wen defended China's handling of the violence, claiming the incidents were encouraged by Tibetan exiles.
"There is ample fact and plenty of evidence proving this incident was organised, premeditated, masterminded and incited by the Dalai clique," Mr Wen told a news conference on Monday.
"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."
He alleged the demonstrators "wanted to incite the sabotage of the Olympic Games in order to achieve their unspeakable goal".
In response, a spokesman for the Dalai Lama called the accusations "baseless".
"It started off with just one or two incidents," Tenzin Taklha, was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying.
"Because of technology, because of word of mouth, word quickly spread. This was very spontaneous."
There has been no official confirmation of the Chinese response to the passing of a deadline for protesters to surrender at midnight (16:00 GMT) on Monday, though reports claim military convoys have been viewed heading into Tibet.