By AUDRA ANG, Associated Press Writers Tue Mar 18, 4:14 PM ET
Wen Jiabao
Dalai Lama
Beijing Olympics
BEIJING - Chinese Premieraccused supporters of theon Tuesday of organizing violent clashes in Tibet in hopes of sabotaging theand bolstering their campaign for independence in the Himalayan territory.
The Dalai Lama urged his followers to remain peaceful, saying he would resign as head of the Tibetan government-in-exile if violence got out of control. But he also suggested China may have fomented unrest in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa and nearby provinces to discredit him.
In striking an uncompromising line, Wen underscored the communist leadership's determination to restore order in Tibet and Tibetan areas of neighboring provinces.
"There is ample fact  and we also have plenty of evidence  proving that this incident was organized, premeditated, masterminded and incited by the Dalai clique," he told reporters at his annual news conference at the end of China's national legislative session.
"By staging that incident, they want to undermine the Beijing Olympic Games, and they also try to serve their hidden agenda by inciting such incidents," said Wen.
He said Lhasa was returning to normal and "will be reopened to the rest of the world," but did not specify when.
Independent reporting from the region was impossible because of China's tight control over information and a ban on trips to the area by foreign reporters.
John Kenwood, a 19-year-old Canadian tourist who left Lhasa on Tuesday, said he saw street cleaners wearing orange vests emblazoned with the Beijing Olympics symbol.
"When the fighting began, you saw no Chinese," said Kenwood as he arrived in Nepal. "Now you see no Tibetans on the streets. The young Tibetans are probably hiding."
The Lhasa protests, led by Buddhist monks, began peacefully March 10, the anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. Tibet had been effectively independent for decades before Chinese communist troops imposed Beijing's control in 1950.
The demonstrations took a violent turn Friday, leaving 16 people dead and dozens injured, according to the Chinese government. The Dalai Lama's government-in-exile in India contends 80 Tibetans died.
The protests have focused world attention on China's human rights record ahead of the Olympics. The government had hoped the Aug. 8-24 games would burnish its image as a modernizing nation.
The Dalai Lama, speaking in Dharmsala, India, seat of his government-in-exile, urged nonviolence.
"I say to China and the Tibetans: Don't commit violence," he told reporters. He suggested the Chinese themselves may have had a hand in the upheaval to discredit him.
"It's possible some Chinese agents are involved there," he said. "Sometimes totalitarian regimes are very clever, so it is important to investigate."
If violence spirals out of control, he said his "only option is to completely resign" as head of the government-in-exile. A top aide said later the Dalai Lama would not give up his role as spiritual leader for Tibetan Buddhists.
U.S. officials urged China to address Tibetans' grievances and to engage in direct talks with the Dalai Lama.
"I do think that his statements point out the fact that he is not arguing for independence or separation from China. Quite the opposite, he is arguing for dialogue with the Chinese," said State Department spokesman Tom Casey.
Chinese authorities pressed ahead with efforts to round up protesters in Lhasa. Witnesses said officials had been detaining people since the weekend.
Duoji Zeren, vice governor of Tibet, was quoted on state television as saying authorities "would take determined methods to capture the primary suspects," but no details were given.
Protests spilled over from Tibet into surrounding provinces in recent days, as police and soldiers set up checkpoints across a wide swath of western China. On Tuesday, thousands of Tibetans flooded the streets in Seda, in the southern Chinese province of Sichuan, according to the Tibet Center for Human Rights and Democracy.
Activist groups also circulated graphic photographs of protesters who they said were massacred Sunday by Chinese police at Kirti monastery in Sichuan province. The images showed several men who were apparently shot and bodies covered in blood. There was no way to verify the authenticity of the photographs.
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Associated Press writers Muneeza Naqvi in Katmandu, Nepal, and Gavin Rabinowitz in Dharmsala, India, contributed to this report.
Tenzin Gyatso, the Dalai Lama, urges Tibetans to stop the violence.
Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, has vowed to step down from his position if things "get out of control" in Tibet, where violent demonstrations against China have killed anywhere from 13 to 100 people.

At a news conference in Dharamsala, India, the Dalai Lama said he was opposed to the use of violence against China's rule. "Violence is almost suicide," he said. "Even if 1,000 Tibetans sacrifice their lives, it will not help." However, he acknowledges that many radical Tibetans have criticized his policy of non-violence, and says that his only option is to "completely resign" if the bloodshed continues. 

After making these statements, his secretary Tenzin Taklha said it would be impossible for him to resign as Tibet's spiritual leader, and that he will only be able to resign as their political leader. "If the Tibetans were to choose the path of violence, he would have to resign because he is completely committed to nonviolence," Taklha said. "He would resign as the political leader and head of state, but not as the Dalai Lama. He will always be the Dalai Lama."

The Dalai Lama responded to accusations made by China's premier, Wen Jiabao, who said there was evidence proving that the riots were "organised, premeditated, masterminded and incited by the Dalai clique". The Dalai Lama asked Chinese officials to come to his headquarters in Dharamsala and investigate. "Check our various offices," he said. "They can examine my pulse, my urine, my stool, everything."

He also suggested that the Chinese themselves may have orchestrated the protests as a way to discredit him. "It's possible some Chinese agents are involved there," the Dalai Lama said. "Sometimes totalitarian regimes are very clever, so it is important to investigate."
Wen Jiabao, the Chinese Premier, says the protests were orchestrated by the "Dalai clique".
Wen Jiabao's remarks came at an annual news conference at the end of China's national legislative session. He said the intent of the riots was to "undermine the Beijing Olympic Games" and "serve their hidden agenda". He added, "This has all the more revealed that the consistent claims made by the Dalai clique that they pursue not independence but peaceful dialogue are nothing but lies."

Wen said China will be open to negotiation with the Dalai Lama if he recognizes Tibet and Taiwan as "inalienable parts of the Chinese territory". The Dalai Lama responded by inviting Wen to speak with him. "If the Chinese side ... accepts the reality and addresses the Tibetan problem realistically, within a few hours we can solve this problem," he said.

Although China suspects the Dalai Lama and his followers wish to break away from Chinese control, Tenzin Gyatso said that "independence is out of the question" and instead advocated greater autonomy within China. "We should not develop anti-Chinese feelings," he said. "We must live together side by side."

He said he plans to meet with Tibetan exiles who are currently marching from India to Lhasa, as he believes their ambitions to be futile. "Will you get independence? What's the use?" he asked, calling for them to stop at the border.

Meanwhile, China continued with efforts to arrest those involved in the Lhasa demonstrations, after a midnight deadline for protesters to turn themselves in passed without any apparent surrenders. Witnesses reported 4 army trucks carrying off dozens of handcuffed prisoners. Urgen Tenzin, executive director of the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy, said about 600 Tibetans were arrested Monday.

Police were seen patrolling the streets of Lhasa, carrying batons or rifles and checking for identification papers. "When the fighting began, you saw no Chinese," said John Kenwood, a Canadian tourist. "Now you see no Tibetans on the streets. The young Tibetans are probably hiding."

The protests, which began in Lhasa, have since spread to neighboring provinces. In Aba, Sichuan, one witness reported 17 deaths. "Earlier today, the whole town was teeming with police and soldiers," he said. "All the shops have been closed. There are no arrests that I know of ... People are anticipating that something big is going to happen." Elsewhere in Sichuan, thousands of Tibetans turned out in the streets of Seda, according to the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy. 

The international community has repeatedly urged China to use restraint in dealing with protesters, and to start talks with the Dalai Lama. United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Monday, "We have really urged the Chinese over several years to find a way to talk with the Dalai Lama, who is a figure of authority, who is not a separatist, and to find a way to engage him and bring his moral weight to a more sustainable and better solution of the Tibet issue."