With global pressure increasing for a boycott of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, China’s president yesterday for the first time addressed the controversy around his harsh crackdown in Tibet, calling it an internal matter that threatens the nation’s unity.
“Our conflict with the Dalai [Lama’s] clique is not an ethnic problem, not a religious problem, nor a human-rights problem,” President Hu Jintao said.
He was referring to supporters of Tibet’s exiled leader, whom the government blames for stirring unrest in the region.
“China does not interfere in other countries’ internal affairs, nor does it try to impose its own will on others,” he added.
Hu’s comments came as the government-run news agency reported the arrest of nine Buddhist monks suspected of bombing a government building in Tibet on March 23.