China unleashes new round of verbal attacks on Dalai Lama

TOKYO—China mounted a broad attack on the Dalai Lama this week, with President Hu Jintao accusing the Tibetan spiritual leader of inciting violence and Chinese state media saying he is plotting the division of China.

The fresh criticism came even as Hu — at a summit with Japan’s prime minister in Tokyo — vowed to push ahead with talks initiated earlier this month between Beijing and representatives of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

“The next step is we are going to have further contact. Our contacts with the Dalai’s personal representatives are serious,” Hu told reporters, dropping the Tibetan spiritual leader’s honorific title, Lama.

“We hope that the Dalai will express his sincerity through his acts. We hope the Dalai will stop acting to separate the homeland, stop orchestrating the inciting of violent acts and stop undermining the Beijing Olympics,” Hu added.

The Dalai Lama has denied such accusations, which China makes repeatedly, saying he is seeking greater autonomy for Tibet, not independence.

The comments by Hu, the first Chinese president to visit Japan in 10 years, matched renewed propaganda attacks on the Dalai Lama by China’s state-run media.

In an editorial titled “The Dalai’s front for his splittist plot,” the Communist Party’s Tibet Daily newspaper accused him of conspiring with China’s enemies in a bid to break up the country.

“In seeking to internationalize the ‘Tibet question,’ the Dalai Lama simply wishes to bring about his evil plot of splitting China, sabotaging Tibet’s stability and subverting socialist China,” the paper said.

China says 22 people died in violence in Tibet’s capital of Lhasa in March, while overseas Tibet supporters say many times that number were killed in the protests and a subsequent crackdown.

At a joint news conference with Hu after their meeting, the Japanese prime minister praised Hu’s decisiveness and willingness to talk with the Dalai Lama’s side.

But Fukuda, too, had a warning.

“The Olympics must succeed,” he said. “The world is watching. We hope the Chinese government and people realize this and that people will be able to watch the games with pleasure.”