China vows to crush stability threats in Tibet
China: Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping vowed to crush any attempt
to undermine stability in Tibet in a speech Tuesday marking 60 years
since China cemented control over the remote Himalayan region.
Xi spoke a day after the exiled Dalai Lama, the region's spiritual
leader, concluded a visit to the United States during which he was
welcomed warmly by President Barack Obama, angering China, which labels
the monk a "separatist".
"We should fight against separatist activities by the Dalai group...
and take measures to address root causes, and smash any attempt to
undermine stability in Tibet and the national unity of the motherland,"
Xi said.
Xi, widely expected to take over as Chinese president by 2013,
addressed an audience of thousands assembled on the central square of
the Tibetan capital Lhasa in a speech broadcast live on national
television. Speaking beneath the iconic Potala palace, home of Tibet's
past theocratic rulers, Xi praised the Communist Party's leadership in
the region and promised even more of the rapid development that has
angered many Tibetans who fear their unique Buddhist culture is being
swamped.
Fresh from victory in the Chinese civil war, the People's Liberation
Army of Communist leader Mao Zedong marched into Tibet in 1950 and
annexed the region, an arrangement formalised the following year.
Tuesday,AFP
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