World Tibet Network News Tuesday, April 28, 1998 (II)

BEIJING, April 28 (AFP) - China on Tuesday criticised the US government for including its coordinator on Tibet in a delegation being led by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

"We are strongly opposed to the nomination of this so-called coordinator for Tibet by the US administration," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao.

China condemned the appointment last October of Greg Craig as the State Department's Tibet coordinator. It described the move as "interference in China's internal affairs."

A US official, who declined to be identified, confirmed Craig would accompany Albright on her trip to Beijing but said: "He wears two hats, and one is the head of the Policy Planning Office at the State Department". He will be visiting China in the latter capacity, the official said.

Albright arrives in Beijing Wednesday and will leave Friday. The visit is intended to prepare for President Bill Clinton's first trip to China, expected at the end of June.

Craig has said China's Tibet policy is "repressive" and that human rights are being violated in the region with the use of torture and arbitrary arrests.