Chinese President Hu says Tibet not a human rights issue
Posted: 12 April 2008 1326 hrs

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BOAO, China - Chinese President Hu Jintao Saturday defended the Tibet crackdown and said the problem was a separatist issue and not related to human rights.

"Our conflict with the Dalai clique is not an ethnic problem, not a religious problem, nor a human rights problem," Hu told visiting Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, according to Xinhua news agency.

"It is a problem either to safeguard national unification or to split the motherland," Hu said.

Hu was speaking after a clampdown on protests, which began last month, left about 150 people dead, according to exiled to Tibetan exiled leaders. China says Tibetan "rioters" killed 18 civilians and two policemen.

"No responsible government will sit idle for such crimes, which gravely encroach human rights, gravely disrupt social order and gravely jeopardize the life and property security of the masses," Hu said.

The rare unrest has thrown an unwelcome spotlight on China ahead of this year's Beijing Olympics with protesters disrupting the European and US legs of the ceremonial torch relay this week.

China's communist rulers vehemently deny they are responsible for religious and cultural repression in Tibet, and insist their control of the remote region has benefited its devoutly Buddhist people. - AFP/ir