China hits out at US over Tibet
“Strong indignation” from Beijing over US congress call to stop Tibet crackdown.
She labelled the resolution as anti-Chinese, saying it “twisted Tibet‘s history and modern reality … seriously hurting the feelings of the Chinese people”.
“The Chinese side expresses its strong indignation and resolute opposition toward this,” she said in a statement posted on the ministry’s website.
‘Crackdown and repression’
The US resolution sponsored by Nancy Pelosi, the House of Representatives speaker, called on Beijing to “end its crackdown on non-violent Tibetan protesters”, along with cultural, religious, economic linguistic “repression”.
While noting reports of deadly rioting in Lhasa and other Tibetan areas, the resolution called China‘s response “disproportionate and extreme”.
It said hundreds of Tibetans had been killed and thousands detained, but did not cite the source of its information.
China says 22 people were killed in the riots, many in arson attacks, and more than 1,000 detained.
The Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile based in India says more than 140 people were killed.
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The resolution also called on China to begin an unconditional “results-based dialogue” with the 72-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader to address Tibetan concerns and work towards a long-term solution to the dispute.
China has held six rounds of contacts with representatives of the Dalai Lama with no apparent result, and has demanded that he meet numerous preconditions before it will talk to him directly.
Jiang said the resolution failed to condemn the “Dalai clique” that China blames for orchestrating the protests that began peacefully on March 10 among Buddhist monks in Lhasa before spiralling into violence four days later.
Dalai Lama visit
The Chinese foreign ministry’s remarks come as the Dalai Lama arrived in the US for the first time since the recent unrest in Tibet.
He will be attending a five-day conference on compassion that begins on Friday in Seattle.
Greg Nickels, Seattle‘s mayor, is to present the key to the Dalai Lama and the University of Washington will present him an honorary degree.
The Dalai Lama fled to India after a failed uprising in 1959 in Tibet, but remains the religious and cultural leader for many Tibetans. He was awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 1989.