Published by World Tibet Network News - Thursday - December 21, 1995

PARIS, Dec 21 (Reuter) - The Dalai Lama, whose security in his Indian exile

was recently stepped up, has said his death would suit the Chinese

government.

The Tibetan spiritual leader said in an interview with the French daily Le

Figaro published on Thursday that his death would please Beijing.

"This would certainly suit the Chinese, and this is why I accept to submit

to these unpleasant security measures," he said when asked about the

possibility of assassination.

The northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh has asked the federal Indian

government to beef up the Dalai Lama's security in the Himalayan town of

Dharamsala following the arrest of three people suspected of trying to spy

on him.

"If I was killed, this may be a temporary setback in our fight for

independence. But you cannot kill the soul of the Tibetan people and the

fight would continue one way or another," the Dalai Lama told Le Figaro.

The Buddhist spiritual leader has been living in exile in Dharamsala since

1959 along with thousands of his followers after an abortive uprising

against the Chinese annexation of Tibet in 1950.