Dalai Lama Tells Mps to Do More for Tibet

The Dalai Lama has accused Britain of not doing enough to tackle Chinese human right abuses against Tibetans.

On the eve of his talks with Gordon Brown, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader today urged the prime minister to back an international investigation into the violent crackdown on pro-Tibetan protests in March.

Asked if Britain was doing enough for the human rights struggle in Tibet, he said: "I think not enough." But he conceded there were "limitations" to what the international community could do.

Appearing before the Commons foreign affairs committee, he rejected the "Chinese government version" that the Tibetans attacked Han Chinese during the demonstrations.

He said the protesters were non-violent but accepted that in some instances emotions ran "out of control".

The Dalai Lama warned that his people were being subjected to "some kind of cultural genocide" at the hands of the Chinese.

He repeated that he backs autonomy for Tibetans, not full independence. "Our real concern is the preservation of Tibetan culture and Tibetan Buddhism," he said.

Pro-Tibet campaigners have accused Brown of bowing to pressure from the Chinese by arranging to meet the Dalai Lama at Lambeth Palace instead of Downing Street.

The Dalai Lama told MPs that he did not care where the meeting took place. "The important thing is to meet and to talk," he said.

Yesterday, the spiritual leader said he was willing to attend the Beijing Olympics if promised peace talks with the Chinese were constructive.

Today, the Chinese authorities responded frostily to that offer and suggested the talks may be delayed.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Qin Gang, said: "If the Dalai really wants to do something positive for the motherland and for the Olympics, he must take concrete actions, really stop activities to split the motherland, stop plotting and whipping up violence, and stop activities to damage the Olympics."

Reuters quoted Qin as saying: "As for the next round of talks, the date is still being worked out. As you know, under the present conditions every department is working as hard as possible on earthquake relief."

Questioned about the talks by MPs today, the Dalai Lama agreed they could "simply be a show" in the run-up to the Olympics.

China has repeatedly blamed the Dalai Lama for a deadly March 14 riot in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, and for subsequent protests in Tibetan areas of China, which took control of Tibet in the 1950s.