World Tibet Network News Saturday, May 2, 1998

BEIJING, April 30 (UPI) _ China is defending its human rights policies in the face of U.S. criticism, calling the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown a necessary part of the nation's development.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Tang Guoqiang (``Tong Gwo-Chong'') says a month-long series of protests by students in the central Beijing square ``seriously disrupted social order and undermined national security.''

Tang defended the use of tanks and troops to crush the protest as necessary, adding China ``could not have maintained social and political stability'' if it had not put a violent end to the pro-democracy demonstrations.

He also ruled out a re-evaluation of the incident, saying ``the (Communist) Party and the government have already made a historic conclusion on this issue.''

Speaking to reporters after a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Tang also defended China's disputed rights policy in Tibet.

Tang lashed out at the Dalai Lama, saying his plan for greater Tibetan autonomy is simply a ``two-step strategy for independence, aimed at fooling international opinion.''

He also blasted the religious leader for illegally interfering in the selection of the new Panchen Lama, Tibet's second-most holy religious figure.

Albright arrived in Beijing Wednesday to lay the groundwork for U.S. President Clinton's June visit to China.

She will leave China early Friday for South Korea and Mongolia.