Published by: World Tibet Network News Friday, September 19, 1997

Wednesday September 17 5:23 PM EDT

By Scott Hillis

BEIJING (Reuter) - China said Wednesday it was open to talks, but on its own terms, with Tibet's exiled leader, the Dalai Lama, hailing as a success its campaign to battle separatists in the restive Himalayan region.

Tibet, where the Dalai Lama is revered as a god-king, has been rocked by sporadic and sometimes violent riots against Chinese rule that are often led by monks and nuns from the devoutly Buddhist region's hundreds of temples.

"As long as the Dalai Lama gives up his position for Tibet independence and stops his separatist activities, he can give up his exiled life and return to the embrace of the motherland and do something useful for the Tibetan people," Raidi head of Tibet's parliament told a news conference.

Chen Kuiyuan, Tibet's Communist Party secretary and top official, said: "He need just make a very clear statement to the international community or the central government of China and after that negotiations...will be easily realized."

The Dalai Lama, who won the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent campaign for more autonomy for his people, maintains he does not desire independence but only wants Tibetans to have more say in their government.

Chen said Tibetans already enjoyed autonomy in local affairs and dismissed the Dalai Lama's stance as meaning he wanted to split Tibet from China.

Raidi accused hostile foreign forces of backing Tibetan separatists and blasted the Western media for telling lies about the region.

"Some people who live thousands of miles away... think to support the separatist clique of the Dalai Lama, fabricate appalling rumors about today's Tibet and throw dirty water on the faces of the officials and people in Tibet," he said.

He said China only sought to uncover criminal activity and compared the situation in Tibet to government crackdowns in the United States and Japan on religious cults that carried out violent acts.

"Is there any country that allows the existence of social organizations or individuals who are not bound by law? Is there any country that allows criminal activities in the disguise of religion?" he asked.

He said an ongoing campaign to instil love of country in monks and nuns launched after a spate of riots and bombings last year had helped to ferret out those seeking to split Tibet from the rest of China.

"In the past the management of temples and monasteries was in chaos," he said. "Since last year there have been no such riots or trouble...and the situation is very good."

The Tibetan government last year ordered monks and nuns to undergo patriotic education and outlawed photographs of the Dalai Lama, who fled the region after an abortive uprising against communist rule in 1959.

Some monks and nuns found to have broken the law or breached discipline were expelled from their monasteries, Raidi said without elaborating on their offenses.

"Our purpose is only to suppress a small number of people who seek to disrupt the country, who seek to split the country under the disguise of religion," he said.