Dalai Lama seeking to “split” country, says China

A day after the Dalai Lama blamed China for trying to “annihilate Buddhism,” China responded by accusing the Tibetan religious leader of trying to split the country, and called on foreign governments to take action against “separatist groups” operating overseas.

China also expressed its particular “appreciation” to the Indian government for restricting activities of “anti-China” forces operating in India, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Qin Gang said.

“The Indian government has recognised Tibet as an integral part of China and does not allow anti-China political activities in India,” he said in response to a question on the Dalai Lama's comments criticising the Chinese rule, made in a speech in Dharamshala to mark the 51st anniversary of his failed uprising. Mr. Qin also criticised Tibetan activists' reported attempts to break into Chinese embassies in India and other countries, and said China appreciated the role played by India and other countries in restricting “anti-China” activities.

The Dalai Lama in his speech strongly attacked China for its policies in Tibet, which, the exiled religious leader says, have eroded Tibetan culture and restricted freedom of worship. “They are putting the monks and nuns in prison-like conditions, depriving them [of] the opportunity to study and practice in peace,” he said.

He also, for the first time, voiced support to groups that have been campaigning to establish a separate “East Turkestan” state in China's Muslim Uighur-majority western Xinjiang region. The Dalai Lama expressed his “solidarity” with ethnic Uighur groups, and said he stood firmly with them.

China blames some exiled Uighur groups, including the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, for carrying out terror attacks in the cities of Kunming, in south-west Yunnan province, and in Kashgar in Xinjiang, in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Mr. Qin said the Dalai Lama's support to Uighur groups “exposed his intent of splitting the country,” and that he had “distorted the true situation in Tibet.”

The Dalai Lama, however, maintains he does not seek to separate Tibet from China, and only wants “genuine autonomy” to preserve ethnic Tibetans' culture and religion.

Last year, China witnessed the biggest ethnic unrest in its recent history with riots in Xinjiang's capital Urumqi claiming at least 200 lives in July. This followed riots by Tibetan monks in Lhasa in March 2008.

Premier Wen Jiabao said, in his address to the Chinese legislature last week, the government would step up economic development in both Tibet and Xinjiang to ensure stability, amid criticism that the developmental policies had left behind minority groups in both regions.