SYDNEY (AFP) — The Dalai Lama on Thursday appealed for Tibetans not to interfere with the Olympic torch relay as it passes through the capital Lhasa, saying he fully supports the Beijing Olympics.
The torch is expected to pass through Tibet the next week, although exact details of its schedule are being kept secret following unrest in March against Chinese rule in the region.
Tibet's exiled spiritual leader repeated calls for greater political autonomy but said he did not want the torch to spark protests in Lhasa similar to those seen in London and Paris on its round-the-world journey.
"The Olympic Games we fully support, the Olympic torch is part of that," he told reporters in Sydney, where he is conducting a series of meditation seminars.
"Over a billion Chinese brothers and sisters feel very proud of it, we must respect this, therefore we should not disturb it."
Some groups critical of China's rule in Tibet have said taking the torch to the Himalayan region is an insult considering the massive Chinese security clampdown after the unrest there.
Exiled Tibetan leaders say 203 people died in the crackdown, while China says it killed no one and that "rioters" were responsible for 21 deaths.
China has largely blamed the Dalai Lama for fomenting the unrest and accused him of seeking to sabotage the Olympic Games.
Despite such accusations, Beijing in early May restarted a dialogue with representatives of the Dalai Lama over the remote region, although they have been suspended in the wake of the Sichuan earthquake.
The Dalai Lama said he was optimistic the talks would yield progress.
He said China's leadership had "accepted reality" with the economic liberalisation that had delivered the country's current growth and he was hopeful it would take a similar pragmatic stance on Tibet.
China says it "peacefully liberated" Tibet in the early 1950s, which resulted in the Dalai Lama fleeing the region in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
In recent years, the Dalai Lama has renounced Tibetan independence and, while acknowledging that the region is a part of China, has urged greater political and religious autonomy for his homeland.
He said pouring money into Tibet would not solve China's problems in the province.
"It is clear that spending billions of money and constructing some schools, some hospitals, some roads is not the issue," he said.
"Something in the system should be changed.
"Give Tibet meaningful autonomy, that will satisfy Tibet."
He said that without change, the grievances that had led to periodic unrest in Tibet would be passed on to another generation.
"Some resentment, some dissatisfaction in the minds of Tibetans (passes) from grandparent to parent from parent to children," he said. "This is a problem."
The spiritual leader said he was not disappointed that Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has not scheduled a meeting with him during his visit to the country, saying he was on a teaching visit that had no political agenda.
Rudd is currently on an overseas trip but will return shortly before the Dalai Lama's departure early next week.
He has denied snubbing the 72-year-old Buddhist monk, who will instead be met by Immigration Minister Chris Evans as acting prime minister, and said he would be prepared to meet the Dalai Lama on future trips to Australia.
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