(Financial Times, Tuesday December 28 1999)

CHINA: Dalai Lama 'pro-violence' claim

By James Kynge in Beijing

China yesterday accused the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, of covertly supporting violence to secure independence for his country while publicly advocating peace.

The accusation follows court action over the weekend against spiritual groups, including underground Christians and the Falun Gong, which Beijing regards as subversive.

Four Falun Gong leaders were jailed at the weekend on charges ranging from stealing state secrets to causing deaths, the official media said.

Li Chang, a former deputy director of the public security ministry, was given 18 years for illegally obtaining state secrets. Wang Zhiwen, a former railways ministry official and Ji Liewu, a former manager at a state company, were given 16 and 12 years in prison respectively. Yao Jie, a woman who worked in a real estate firm, received seven years.

The US State department yesterday expressed concern about the brevity of the court proceedings against the Falun Gong members and the "extremely severe" sentences imposed, saying it raised questions about the fundamental fairness of the trial.

Officials said the US was also closely monitoring Beijing's broader behaviour towards religious groups. The issue of Chinese treatment of Christians and other religious groups is certain to be a prominent topic when Congress next year decides whether to approve Beijing's accession to the World Trade Organisation.

The official China Daily newspaper said the Dalai Lama's public opposition to proposals by the Tibetan Youth Congress to wage armed struggle against Tibet's Chinese rulers was "a ruse to garner international support while continuing to act in a violent and irresponsible manner".

The newspaper did not cite any evidence to support its allegations against the Dalai Lama.

The unusually strong criticism of the Tibetan leader shows Beijing's mistrust remains deep. A call this month by European Union leaders at the EU-China summit for dialogue between Beijing and its adversary is unlikely to bear fruit, diplomats said.

Beijing believes it has little to gain and much to lose from opening a dialogue with the Dalai Lama, whose acknowledgement of China's sovereignty over Tibet it has dismissed as "insincere".

In another move against spiritual groups a court in the central province of Henan sentenced six leaders of underground Christian churches to labour camps for being part of an "evil cult", according to a Hong Kong-based human rights group.

The Information Centre of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said that the use of the words "evil cult" to describe the underground churches - estimated to have about 40m participants - may signify intensified vigilance against the practise of unsanctioned religion.

Probably the largest single underground church in China is composed of Roman Catholics who privately recognise the Pope's authority, in violation of Chinese regulations.