China wants India to curb Dalai Lama

Press, 9 October 1987, Page 6

China wants India to curb Dalai Lama

NZPA-Reuter Peking China said the thirtyseventh anniversary of its Army’s march into Tibet passed quietly in Lhasa and called on India to prevent political activity by the region’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. Tibetans had threatened new protests to mark the anniversary of the day the Chinese brought communism to the remote and poor region, which the Dalai Lama ruled as “GodKing.” A report in the “People’s Daily” overseas edition, headed “Morning

in Lhasa," said life in the Tibetan capital on Wednesday, the anniversary of Peking’s military entry into the region, was back to normal after antiChinese riots. The riots last Thursday left six dead by the official count and 19 dead by unofficial reports. On Tuesday, the day before the anniversary, police broke up a demonstration by 80 Buddhist monks, kicking and clubbing them. The “People’s Daily” said traders were back on the streets on Wednesday

doing business as usual. It quoted one Chinese trader as saying he had kept away for some days because of “rioting by bad people.” “Things are quiet now. Everyone has come out again and set up their stalls. The streets are full of shoppers,” he was quoted as saying. The New China News Agency said Peking’s Embassy in New Delhi asked the Indian Government on Tuesday to “take necessary measures preventing the Dalai Lama from making political statements” to the press.

At a news conference on Wednesday at his home in exile in north India, the Dalai Lama called for more protests against Chinese rule in his homeland. He said he advocated more demonstrations and acts of civil disobedience as long as they were /peaceful. “It is a kind of expression of deep sorrow. It is good, necessary.” The New China News Agency said that although India had said that it would not allow the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan

exiles to conduct political activity in India, three anti-Chinese demonstrations had been held in New Delhi in the last 10 days. China says the Dalai Lama and his supporters caused the disturbances in Lhasa. A Western diplomat in Peking said it was the first time the Tibetan spiritual leader had called for a civil disobedience campaign. “This is further than he has ever gone before. This means no serious

negotiations between him and Peking are possible in the foreseeable future. Both sides are hardening their attitudes,” the diplomat said. At a news briefing on Wednesday, before the news of the Dalai Lama’s call for civil disobedience reached the Chinese capital, a senior Chinese official said there had been no change in Peking’s attitude toward him. Peking says he can return to China but must live in the capital, not Tibet, and cannot resume his role as "God-King."