Published by: World Tibet Network News, Friday, October 11, 1996

BEIJING, Oct 10 (AFP) - Tibet's government-in-exile condemned Beijing Thursday for incarcerating a dissident who dared to question China's sovereignty over Tibet.

"We are extremely sorry to hear that Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese who dared suggest that Tibetans should be granted the right of self-determination has been jailed," said Kalon Tashi Wangdi, international relations minister in Tibet's government-in-exile in India.

Describing Liu's three-year sentence as a "knee-jerk reaction" from a nervous government in Beijing, Kalon appealed to the international community to pressurise China to release Liu. "Stifling independent thought will never succeed in snuffing out the yearning for freedom and democracy in China and Tibet," he added, in a fax received in Beijing from the administration's Dharamsala headquarters.

Liu was arrested and sentenced to three years of "re-education through labour" on Tuesday, one week after he wrote an open letter supporting Tibetan independence and calling for talks with its exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

The severity of the sentence and the speed with which it was handed down were a harsh reminder of the extreme sensitivity felt by the authorities here over the question of Tibet.

"We deeply admire the courage and honesty of Liu Xiaobo in speaking up for the cause of the Tibetan people. His views are shared by many enlightened Chinese thinkers in and outside China," Kalon said.

China claims its sovereignty over the mountainous region dates from the 13th century, but the People's Liberation Army only 'liberated' Tibet in 1951.

Eight years later, the Dalai Lama fled to India after an abortive uprising against rule from Beijing.