China launched another attack on exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Wednesday even as his envoys and Chinese officials had a second day of secretive fence-mending talks.
Zhang Qingli, Tibet's hard-line Communist Party boss, repeated government claims that riots in Tibet in March were instigated by the "Dalai clique" - Communist jargon for his supporters - who were intent on causing a bloodbath. "The March 14 incident was planned for a long time by the Dalai clique with the support and instigation of hostile Western forces," the Tibet Daily paraphrased Zhang as telling a visiting delegation from an organisation of the disabled. The Dalai Lama has denied the charge.
"They harboured the evil intention of turning the incident into a bloodbath, of disrupting the Beijing Olympics and destroying Tibet'lks, the sixth since 2002 and delayed by three weeks in the wake of China's deadliest earthquake in three decades, was preceded by a glut of goodwill, arguably somewhat more from the Dalai Lama's side than China's.
During a trip to Britain in May, he said he was willing to attend the August 8-24 Beijing Olympics if talks between his envoys and China yielded results. He did not elaborate. But a Chinese source with ties to the leadership told Reuters an Olympic invite for the Dalai Lama or a summit with President Hu Jintao was out of the question unless Hu can mollify conservatives in his ruling Communist Party.