While Wen Jiabao is making more conciliatory statements toward the Dalai Lama, other official sources continue to take a hardline approach toward Tibetans, accusing them of planning suicide attacks. From AP:
The Tibetan government-in-exile dismissed the allegation, saying it remained dedicated to the nonviolent struggle long promoted by their Buddhist leader.
…Public Security Ministry spokesman Wu Heping said searches of monasteries had turned up 176 guns, 13,013 bullets, 19,000 sticks of dynamite, 7,725 pounds of unspecified explosives, two hand grenades, and 350 knives.
He provided no details or evidence.
Meanwhile, India’s External Affairs Minister has warned the Dalai Lama not to antagonize India’s relationship with China. From Sify News:
“The Dalai Lama can stay here as India’s guest but he should not do anything that harms India’s diplomatic ties with China,” Mukherjee said.
“There has been no change in the policy formulated by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru,” he stressed, while reiterating India’s position that the Tibetan Autonomous Region is a part of China.
Mukherjee’s remarks, seen by some as a bid by New Delhi to appease Chinese anxieties about the safety of the Olympic torch relay through India, comes a day after India’s football captain, Bhaichung Bhutia, said he would not carry the Olympic torch in protest against China’s actions to quell unrest in Tibet.
The Indian government has distanced itself from Bhutia’s statement.
