Urgent Press Release: Dharamsala Refutes Charges of Being Involved in Lhasa Protests

March 31,2008
Dharamsala

Contacts:
Mr Thubten Samphel
Mr Sonam N Dagpo
Department of Information
and International Relations
Central Tibetan Administration
Ph: 01892-222510, 224957, 224662

The state-controlled mouthpiece of the Communist Party of China, Xinhua News Agency, ran a story yesterday March 30 on the "involvement of the Tibetan Government in exile and the Dalai Lama in the recent demonstrations in Lhasa and other parts of Tibet." The article, which was purportedly written by Yedor (Ch: Yi duo), accused His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Department of Security of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) for stirring up violence and disturbance in Tibet.

The Central Tibetan Administration strongly refutes the charges. These charges are concocted and premeditated with no inkling of a truth in it. China has since the beginning of the incident in Lhasa on March 10 started to blame it on His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the CTA, without any conclusive proof, and this article is the same. Therefore, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration has from the very beginning urged for an immediate and independent inquiry into the Tibetan demonstrations from an international organization. Central Tibetan Administration repeats its request for an independent inquiry to ascertain the truth.

This is not the first time that China has blamed His Holiness the Dalai Lama or the Tibetan exiles for the troubles in Tibet that stems from China's own flawed policies and repressive political rule.
(www.tibet.net is the official website of the Central Tibetan Administration.)