The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Issue date: 3/25/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Greg Baker - Associated Press Tibetan monks stand on the road above the Dongzhuling Monastery in the mountains about 50 kilometers (31 miles) east of the border with Tibet, in southwestern China's Yunnan province, Sunday, March 23, 2008. Tibetan areas in Yunnan appear to be quiet since anti-government protests broke out in Tibet earlier this month, but China has sent thousands of paramilitary troops to the Tibetan area in Yunnan as an apparent precaution. Originally built in 1667, the monastery was later destroyed after China's communist takeover, then rebuilt in its new location.

CHENGDU, China (AP) - China accused the Dalai Lama on Sunday of stoking Tibetan unrest to sabotage the Beijing Olympics and also berated House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, saying she is ignoring the truth about Tibet.



This month's violence in Tibet and neighboring provinces has turned into a public relations disaster for China ahead of the August Olympics, which it had been hoping to use to bolster its international image.



The Chinese government said through official media that formerly restive areas were under control and accused the Dalai Lama, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, of trying to harm China's image ahead of the summer games.



"The Dalai clique is scheming to take the Beijing Olympics hostage to force the Chinese government to make concessions to Tibet independence," said the People's Daily, the main mouthpiece of the Communist Party.



The Tibetan spiritual leader called the accusations against him "baseless," asserting that he supported China's hosting of the summer games.



"I always support (that) the Olympics should ... take place in Beijing ... so that more than 1 billion human beings, that means Chinese, they feel proud of it," he said Sunday in New Delhi, India.



Pelosi's visit to the Dalai Lama in Dharmsala, India, on Friday was the first by a major foreign official since the protests broke out. The Democratic leader said if people don't speak out against China's oppression in Tibet, "we have lost all moral authority to speak on behalf of human rights anywhere in the world."

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