Dalai Lama speaks out on Tibet immolations
THE Dalai Lama says China is more interested in criticising him than finding the reason behind a spate of Tibetan self-immolations threatening to mar the Communist Party's leadership change.
The comments came as two more Tibetans died in separate self-immolations on Monday, the eighth and ninth people to have set themselves on fire in the last week in protest at Chinese rule.
In what are thought to be his first remarks on the issue since the Communist Party congress began in Beijing, the Dalai Lama told reporters in Japan that Beijing is not looking "seriously" at the protests taking place across the country.
"The Chinese government should investigate the cause (of the incidents). China does not look into it seriously and tries to end (the incidents) only by criticising me," the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader said, according to a Kyodo News report in Japanese.
Nine Tibetans have now set themselves on fire in the last week, with two more dying on Monday in Tongren, a county in northwest China's Qinghai province, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.
Sixty-nine people have set themselves on fire to protest Chinese rule of Tibet since 2009, of whom 54 have died, the India-based Tibetan government-in-exile said before the latest incidents.
The immolations have gained pace in recent months, particularly in the past week as the Communist Party opened its sensitive congress on Thursday to pass the baton of power to the next generation of party apparatchiks.
The party has sought to project an image of national unity during the highly stage-managed gathering amid unrest in minority areas.
The escalating protests have been aimed at undercutting the facade, according to representatives of the Tibetan government-in-exile in India.
On the sidelines of the congress on Friday, officials from the Tibetan Communist Party angrily denounced the Dalai Lama and overseas Tibetan "separatists" for orchestrating the immolations to breed unrest.
The Dalai Lama is nearing the end of a 12-day visit to Japan, a country to which he is a regular visitor and where he has a sizeable following.
He was in Okinawa in the country's far south on Monday, but was due to return to Tokyo on Tuesday, where he was expected to speak to a cross-party group of parliamentarians.
Despite the coming leadership change, political analysts say no rethink of Tibet policy is expected as Beijing fears any hint of indecision could further embolden restive minority groups.
