China denounces Dalai Lama as Tibet riot's anniversary looms

Asian Defense News: BEIJING (AFP) - – China on Tuesday accused the Dalai Lama of trying to "create chaos" in Tibet, on the eve of the sensitive anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule that drove the Buddhist monk into exile.

China denounces Dalai Lama as Tibet riot's anniversary looms

Two years ago, protests in the Tibetan capital Lhasa to mark the anniversary of the March 10, 1959 uprising descended into deadly violence, prompting a massive security clampdown in the Himalayan region that is ongoing.

"If there were no anti-China forces or no Dalai to destroy and create chaos, Tibet would be better off than it is today," the region's Communist Party secretary Zhang Qingli said in an interview posted on a government website.

"Although anti-China forces and the Dalai clique are trying to... destroy our harmony and stability, they can never shake our heartfelt belief that China cannot live without Tibet and Tibet cannot live without China," he said.

China would continue to pour investment into Tibet in an effort to develop the economy of the remote, impoverished region and raise the living standards of its people, Zhang said.

Zhang's remarks came during the nation's ongoing annual parliamentary session, at which top leaders and lawmakers have heaped praise on Beijing's efforts to develop Tibet -- and hit out at the Dalai Lama.

"Tibet has witnessed the fastest-ever development in its history (under China's rule)," Qiangba Puncog, head of Tibet's legislature, told journalists on Sunday.

Over the last eight years, Tibet has witnessed over 12 percent economic growth annually as 180 billion yuan (26 billion dollars) was poured into infrastructure in the region, mostly by the central government, he said.

Zhang said such investment would continue in the coming years and would remain the bedrock of Beijing's efforts to ensure "socialism with Chinese characteristics" in Tibet.

"Our main task is to improve the lives of the people and give them a foot to stand on," Zhang said.

"Here the central government has given us a lot of support. We will take this money and invest more of it on the basic level."

China routinely blames unrest in Tibet on the Dalai Lama, viewed by Beijing as a separatist bent on independence. The 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner has denied such accusations, saying he is seeking "real autonomy" for the region.

Zhang further insisted that Tibetans enjoyed full freedom of religion, but that police crackdowns in the region were largely due to "anti-China and separatist forces inciting monks into doing bad things."

Tourist officials and hotel operators said the streets of Lhasa remained quiet ahead of the anniversaries of the uprising and the violence, but that foreign tourists still needed special permission to visit Tibet.

"The armed police are still patrolling the streets, just like they have been doing since the riots," an official at the China Youth Tourism Service told AFP, asking not to be named.