TibetNet
8 March 2008

Yesterday, according to media reports, China's top official in Tibet,
Zhang Qingli quoted a distorted interview by His Holiness the Dalai
Lama accusing him of trying to sabotage the forthcoming Beijing
Olympics.

In making this highly inflammatory accusation, the party secretary of
Tibet based his information on an interview of His Holiness the Dalai
Lama carried on Britain's ITV network in the third week of January,
which misleadingly attributed the Tibetan leader of supporting
peaceful protests in the run-up to the Olympics.

When the international media picked up the excerpts of the interview,
the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama through its London office
issued a clarification on 23 January, which was covered by the media.

In response to the reporters' question whether His Holiness supported
the calls by some NGOs, including Tibet support groups, for a boycott
of the Beijing Olympics, His Holiness answered by stating
categorically that it was too radical.

When the interviewer subsequently asked if the NGOs should continue
with their protests, His Holiness had said that they could remind the
international community, including the Chinese people about the
repression and urgency of the situation in Tibet.

On the issue of the Beijing Olympics, it is common knowledge that His
Holiness the Dalai Lama has consistently supported the right of China
to host the 2008 Olympic Games.