By Tham Choy Lin, Bernama
Beijing : China has rebuked European Union (EU) foreign ministers who called for a dialogue between Beijing and the Dalai Lama, repeating it will brook no interference in its internal affairs.
China voiced “strong dissatisfaction” with the foreign ministers who met over the weekend in Slovenia and discussed the Tibetan issue,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Wu said late Sunday.
“The Tibet issue is completely China’s internal affairs. No foreign country or international organisation has the right to interfere in it,” she said in remarks posted on the ministry’s website.
Jiang said China strongly hoped the EU would “distinguish right from wrong” and not send the wrong signal to the international community and encourage the Tibetan independence activists.
Unrest broke out in Lhasa and spread to Tibetan-inhabited areas in neighbouring provinces this month, and the Chinese government said 18 civilians and a policeman were killed in deadly riots in the Tibetan capital on March 14.
China accused the “Dalai clique” of orchestrating the violence to undermine Beijing’s hosting of the summer Olympics in August.
Jiang reiterated that China would talk to the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, only if he “truly” gave up his pursuit of independence for the Himalayan region, halt secessionist activities and attempts to sabotage the Olympic Games, and accept that Tibet and Taiwan are inseparable from China.
“We will not only listen to what he says, but also watch what he does,” Jiang said.
The EU foreign ministers said member states would not boycott the Olympics but could stay away from the opening ceremony in protest against what had happened in Tibet.