From AFP:
China turned its back Saturday on appeals for dialogue with the Dalai Lama, vowing to smash anti-China forces in Tibet, where it said the death toll in recent unrest had risen to 19.
A day after Beijing launched a manhunt for monks and others it blamed for unrest in Tibet, a defiant editorial in the People’s Daily, mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist party, said opposition to Chinese rule in the Himalayan region must be wiped out.
“China must resolutely crush the conspiracy of sabotage and smash ‘Tibet independence forces’,” the newspaper said in the editorial, rejecting calls from US, European and Asian leaders for talks.
Read also Bush Silent, but Others Speak Out on Tibet Crackdown by Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Somini Sengupta, and China Rejects Pelosi, Cites Support for Tibet Actions by Angela Macdonald-Smith.
