(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-04-05 07:26

NEW YORK: Kuang Weilin, deputy consul-general of the Chinese Consulate in New York, on Thursday slammed the Dalai clique for allegedly masterminding the violence in China and attacks on Chinese missions abroad.

Speaking to reporters in New York, Kuang showed a documentary on the Lhasa riots, video footage of the attacks by Tibetan separatists on the Chinese consulate in New York and pictures of damage done to the consulate building.

Kuang claimed the violence in China and attacks on about 20 missions abroad were premeditated, organized and masterminded by the Dalai clique, which is bent on "Tibetan independence".

"Why did these mobs act in unison with one another both inside and outside China? Why did the violence quickly spread to other regions? Why were about 20 Chinese embassies and consulates harassed, or attacked, almost at the same time? Why did the rioters, both inside and outside China, use the same tactics, shout the same slogans, and display the same degree of violence?" he asked.

Kuang dismissed the Dalai Lama's so-called "high degree of autonomy".

"We attach more importance to what he does," Kuang said.

"He has said a lot of things about giving up 'independence for Tibet' ... but what he does is just the opposite."

The Dalai Lama's "high degree of autonomy" means to negate the present system of regional, ethnic autonomy; means the Chinese troops leave the area; and he seeks to establish a greater Tibetan area comprising about one-quarter of China's total area, Kuang said.

"He has not given up his dream of independence. What he says does not square with what he does," Kuang said.

The Dalai clique chose this year, when China hosts the Olympics, to take action to attract the attention of the world, to put pressure on the Chinese government, to push forward the internationalization of the Tibet issue, to undermine China's stable and harmonious social and political situation, and to tarnish its image, he said.

"Their goal is to separate Tibet from China," he said.

Xinhua

(China Daily 04/05/2008 page2)