China yesterday accused Tibetan independence forces of planning to use suicide squads to trigger bloody attacks.
The accusation was the latest in a series from Chinese officials blaming recent violence and unrest in Tibet on followers of the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
"To our knowledge, the next plan of the Tibetan independence forces is to organize suicide squads to launch violent attacks," Public Security Bureau spokesman Wu Heping (吳和平) said yesterday. "They claimed that they fear neither bloodshed nor sacrifice."
Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama and his supporters of orchestrating anti-government riots in Lhasa on March 14 as part of a campaign to sabotage the Beijing Olympics in August and promote Tibetan independence.
The 72-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner has denied the charge, condemning the violence and urging an independent international investigation into the unrest and its underlying causes.
The self-proclaimed Tibetan government-in-exile quickly denied Beijing's charges.
"Tibetan exiles are 100 percent committed to nonviolence. There is no question of suicide attacks. But we fear that Chinese might masquerade as Tibetans and plan such attacks to give bad publicity to Tibetans," said Samdhong Rinpoche, prime minister of the government- in-exile in Dharmsala, India.
"There is absolutely no doubt in our mind that we want to follow the nonviolent path," he said.
China's campaign against the Dalai Lama has been underscored in recent days with showings of decades-old propaganda films on state TV portraying Tibetan society as cruel and primitive before the 1950 invasion by Chinese troops.
The government has sought to portray life as fast returning to normal in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa -- the scene of the deadliest violence -- although its landmark Buddhist monasteries of Jokhang, Drepung and Sera were closed and surrounded by troops, tour operators said.
`TROUBLE-MAKERS'
Meanwhile, China's top newspaper said yesterday that protesters seeking to upset the Olympics would only offend China's Games-loving citizens, as the Olympic torch began a global relay sure to trigger further demonstrations.
Even before the Olympic torch arrived in Beijing on Monday, it drew protests from critics of China's restrictions on dissidents and the media, its policies on Sudan's Darfur region, and a security crackdown in Tibet.
With the torch now on a 130-day trek across the world from the Chinese capital, more demonstrations abroad are certain.
But the People's Daily said "trouble-makers" had misjudged the country's mood.
"A few clouds will not cover the sun's radiance and a few trouble-makers will not hold back the world's expectations for the Beijing Olympic Games," the paper said.
"If some think that the warm-hearted aspirations and passionate expectations of the Chinese people present an opportunity to get up to some tricks and `pollute' the Beijing Olympics, they have made a big miscalculation," it said.
IOC MEETING
International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge expected to meet senior Chinese government figures, possibly including Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶), in the next week as the Olympic movement attempts to ease international tensions surrounding the Games.
Rogge is expected to arrive in Beijing at the end of this week as the IOC makes its last formal visit to the city before the Games and it is hoped he will meet Wen.
While the main focus of Rogge's visit will be the formal operational aspects of China's preparations, a meeting with the premier would offer Rogge the opportunity to discuss the broader implications of recent events in Tibet.
The IOC has come under increased international pressure to try to exert influence on the Chinese government since security forces stamped out demonstrations in Lhasa and surrounding regions in the middle of last month.
Rogge has said in recent weeks that as a sporting organization the IOC is powerless to exert any influence, while also claiming the Games will be a force for good in China, a position that suggests he believes the IOC is not without leverage.
He has failed, however, to satisfy critics who point to the IOC's promise, made in 2001 when China was awarded the Games, that the human-rights situation would improve as a result of hosting the Olympics.
In Calcutta, the captain of India's soccer team, Bhaichung Bhutia, said he would refuse to carry the Beijing Olympic torch during its run through the Indian capital later this month in protest over China's crackdown in Tibet.
"It's a great honor that I have been chosen to carry the torch, but at the same time I am sorry to inform that it is not possible for me to take part in the torch run for personal reasons," Bhutia said yesterday.
Bhutia, among the first athletes to refuse to run with the torch, said he faxed his decision to the IOA on Monday.
"I strongly denounce the repression and torture unleashed by the Chinese authorities in Tibet," said Bhutia, who is a Buddhist.
"This time the Olympics are going to be held in China. I don't want to carry this torch" he said. "I have many Tibetan friends and I have taken this decision to show my solidarity with them."
Amnesty International said yesterday that China's rights record was getting worse because of, not despite, the Olympics as it bids to present a united front by cracking down on dissent.
Amnesty said it was increasingly unlikely the Games would improve rights in China and urged the IOC and world leaders to speak out publicly against violations.
Politicians risk being implicated in a "conspiracy of silence" if they fail to address issues such as the Chinese government's crackdown in Tibet, the London-based group said in the new report.
It also contained fresh criticism of the IOC.
"Unless the Chinese authorities take steps to redress the situation urgently, a positive human rights legacy for the Beijing Olympics looks increasingly beyond reach," the report said.
A pre-Olympic crackdown on critics -- who the report says are targeted "in an apparent attempt to portray a `stable' or `harmonious' image to the world by August 2008" -- had "deepened not lessened because of the Olympics," Amnesty chief Irene Khan said.
Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said yesterday that he expected he and his EU counterparts would jointly invite the Dalai Lama to visit Brussels soon.
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