A top official in Tibet has called for tighter security on Mount Everest, saying the Dalai Lama is planning to sabotage the Olympic torch's ascent of the world's highest peak, the Tibet Daily said yesterday.
Hao Peng, deputy governor of Tibet, carried out a personal inspection tour of Everest base camp on Sunday, joined by top officials from regional military, police and border security headquarters, the state-controlled newspaper said.
The Olympic torch relay, which is scheduled to ascend Everest next month, is expected to serve as a magnet for protesters on an array of issues, including opposition to China's crackdown on unrest in Tibet.
PHOTO: AP
The relay, which kicked off its first international leg in Kazakhstan on yesterday, is expected to see protests when the torch reaches London on Sunday, Paris on Monday and San Francisco next Wednesday.
Hao said the Everest leg was being targeted by the Dalai Lama. China has also blamed the recent deadly unrest in Tibet on the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.
"Comrades, you have got a hard job," Hao said in his speech to assembled security personnel at Everest base camp. "The success of the Olympic torch relay ascent of Mount Everest is a big thing."
"But the Dalai splittist clique are right now plotting to sabotage the relay in Tibet and the climb up Everest," Hao said.
Hao said security personnel had to improve planning and coordination and "step up work to guarantee security."
Meanwhile, Japanese Emperor Akihito and other members of the royal family are unlikely to attend the Beijing Olympics amid concerns about China's crackdown in Tibet and other issues, a report said yesterday.
The Japanese government thinks it is not a good time for a rare royal visit because of the unrest in Tibet, a recent health scare over Chinese-made dumplings in January and a spat over disputed gas fields, the Sankei Shimbun said.
"We were planning not to ask royals to go even before the gyoza incident. It is all the more true now that the Tibetan unrest occurred," it quoted an unnamed government official as saying.
Japanese authorities confirmed that at least 10 people suffered pesticide poisoning after eating the tainted dumplings.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao invited Emperor Akihito and other royals to the opening ceremony of the August Olympics when he visited Japan last year.
In the US, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested on Tuesday that US President George W. Bush should consider skipping the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Beijing to protest China's actions in Tibet, its overall human rights record and its trade policies.
Pelosi made it clear that she was not advocating any interference with the sporting events. She said that if the International Olympic Committee wanted to portray the Games as a gathering that transcends sports, its members should hold the host country to high human rights standards.
The White House said Bush was not considering bypassing the opening ceremony.
"The president views the Olympics as a sporting event," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said.
In related news, demonstrations against China's crackdown in Tibet continued abroad, with at least 53 Tibetan exiles, including monks and nuns, dragged away from the Chinese embassy in Kathmandu yesterday, police said.
The protesters had gathered outside the embassy compound shouting: "Stop the killing in Tibet."
"We have detained 53 people for protesting outside the embassy," police official Babukaji Karka said.
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