Q: During the informal meeting in Slovenia, the EU Foreign Ministers' Council discussed the Tibet issue and produced a press release. Do you have any comment?

A: The Tibet issue is completely the internal affair of China in which none of the foreign countries and international groups has the right to interfere. China expresses strong dissatisfaction to the EU Foreign Ministers' Council on its discussion and comment on the situation in Tibet.

The violent crimes involving beating, smashing up properties, looting and arson in Lhasa and other areas disrupt local cultural and religious activities and undermin normal social order, severely violating human rights and undermining people's lives and properties. When social order, people's lives and properties are at risk, any responsible country will take lawful measures to stop the violence. The government of the Tibet Autonomous Region has exercised full restraint while handling the incident, safeguarded social justice and restored social order immediately, which has won heartfelt support from the overwhelming majority of people including the Tibetan compatriots. Taking seriously the protection of human rights and the development of Tibetan traditional culture and religion, the Central Government has invested a lot of human resources and capital in protecting, renovating and building the cultural and religious facilities to meet the demands of Tibetan people for cultural and religious activities. The various undertakings in Tibet have made unprecedented achievements. At present, there are altogether 50 research institutions of Tibetology where Tibetan scholars constitute the majority of the fellows, preserving the Tibet cultural legacy and folk art effectively. In Tibet, both the Tibetan and Chinese language are taught, with Tibetan being the main language and a main course in curriculum. The Tibetan people are the first among minority ethnic groups in China to have an international-standard language. All kinds of religious activities are proceeding normally in Tibet. The Central Government has earmarked a huge fund to renovate the monasteries and religious sites including the Potala Palace and Jokhang Temple. Now, there are over 1,780 monasteries and temples with 46,000 monks and nuns in Tibet and people's freedom of religious belief has been fully protected.

We strongly urge the EU and its member states to make a clear distinction between the right and wrong, explicitly condemn the violent crimes of beating, smashing, looting and burning and all those offenders. We also request them to avoid adopting double standards and blurring the line between the black and white. Otherwise, they will once again hurt the feelings of the innocent victims of March 14 incident and their families, send wrong signals to the international community and the Dalai clique and encourage the Tibet Independence separatists in their criminal act of violence.

The Chinese Government's position on Dalai is consistent. As long as Dalai truly abandons his Tibet Independence propositions and stop separatist activities, in particular, those of planning and inciting criminal act of violence in Tibet and other areas and disrupting the Beijing Olympics, recognizes Tibet and Taiwan as inseparable parts of the Chinese territory, we are willing to continue the contact and talks with him. To this, we should not only listen to his words, but also watch his deeds.