China's state media attack Dalai Lama despite gov't overture

Exiled Tibetans hold a candlelit vigil in Dharmsala to commemorate the 19th anniversary of the birth of Panchen Lama in Dharmsala, India, Friday, April 25, 2008. Thousands of Tibetan exiles in India marched on Friday to demand the release of the Panchen Lama, the second highest ranking figure in Tibetan Buddhism, whom they say has been a prisoner in China since 1995. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

BEIJING—A day after China said it would meet an envoy of the Dalai Lama, state media Saturday launched fresh attacks against the Tibetan spiritual leader, blaming him for the recent unrest among Tibetans that threatens to tarnish this summer's Beijing Olympics.

Although the government's announcement, first reported Friday by the official Xinhua News Agency and carried again by other state media Saturday, stopped well short of promising to restart negotiations, it drew international praise. It came after weeks of calls from world leaders for dialogue between Beijing and the Dalai Lama.

But the People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party, also printed an editorial on Saturday attacking "the Dalai clique" for seeking support from Western countries and ignoring "the efforts and achievements made by China after shaking off serfdom and poverty in Tibet."

The Tibet Daily, another party newspaper, said, "The Lhasa March 14 incident is another ugly performance meticulously plotted by the Dalai clique to seek Tibet independence."

Last month anti-government riots broke out in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, galvanizing critics of Beijing's communist regime and sparking a crackdown from Chinese forces.

The fallout from the unrest and China's response has threatened to overshadow the Olympics, meant to showcase China's rising prominence on the world stage. It has already turned the international relay of the Olympic torch into a lightning rod for protests against China's rule in the Himalayan region and its human rights record.

The new attacks follow others in recent weeks, in which the government has branded the Dalai Lama a "wolf in monk's robes" and his followers the "scum of Buddhism," helping whip up Chinese nationalism.

Beijing's announcement Friday had appeared to be a reversal from these tactics, though it gave few details and repeated long-established preconditions for real negotiations. One of those conditions -- that the Dalai Lama unambiguously recognize Tibet as a part of China -- could forestall any immediate breakthroughs.

The prime minister of the India-based Tibetan government-in-exile said the Dalai Lama was always open to talks.

"But the present circumstances in Tibet do not appear to be an appropriate platform for a meaningful dialogue," Samdhong Rinpoche told The Associated Press in the Indian hill town of Dharmsala.

Some critics have questioned whether the overture was just a way to deflect criticism ahead of the Olympics.

But White House press secretary Dana Perino said Friday the Bush administration was encouraged by the news.

"We are hopeful that this will be a new direction in their relationship," Perino said.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who was in Beijing when the announcement was made, called the move encouraging.

"I believe there's real room for a dialogue," Barroso told reporters.

The International Campaign for Tibet, an advocacy group, said the news showed China was responding to international pressure, but added that similar offers from Beijing have yielded little in the past.

"It's too early to tell if the meeting will produce results or is just for PR purposes in advance of the Olympics," Mary Beth Markey, the group's vice president for international advocacy, said in a statement.

China says 22 people died in violence in Lhasa, while overseas Tibet supporters say many times that number have been killed in protests and the security crackdown across Tibetan regions of western China.

The Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet amid a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, says he seeks meaningful autonomy for Tibet -- not independence.