Beijing is committed to protecting people's legitimate rights, FM says

China on Wednesday urged the United States to stop meddling in China's internal affairs through the Tibet issue.

"We are resolutely opposed to it," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a regular news briefing, stressing that China is committed to protecting its people's legitimate rights and guaranteeing their freedom of religion.

Some members of the US Congress called black "white" so that they could use the Tibet issue as an excuse to interfere with our internal affairs, he said.

Hong's comments came after the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday approved a bill that would call on China to ease restrictions in Tibetan areas and free prisoners.

"We advise these members to recognize the facts, discard prejudice, stop any interference in China's internal affairs and do more things conducive to the Sino-US relations, not the other way around," he said.

The committee approved the resolution among a series of bills that touch on Iran, Sudan and Syria.

Under the Tibet resolution, the Senate stated that it deplores "the repressive policies targeting Tibetans" and urged Beijing to release all "arbitrarily detained" people, the AFP reported.

The resolution would not carry repercussions but would call on US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to urge Beijing to provide unfettered access in Tibetan regions to journalists and diplomats, the agency said.

Jin Canrong, an expert on US studies at Renmin University of China, said the US government and the Dalai clique are using the Tibet issue to put China in a bad light.

The US government acquiesced on a strategic level with some members of the Congress and NGOs to attack China on this issue because it knows that China is unlikely to retaliate, and this is a sure win for the US, Jin said.

Hong Lei said on Tuesday that the Dalai Lama and his associates have been instigating Tibetan "independence" and creating "disturbances" in the Tibetan area.

"These acts aimed at achieving Tibetan 'independence' and separatism through taking people's lives will never succeed and will be severely condemned by the international community," Hong said.

cuihaipei@chinadaily.com.cn