29 March 2008
Diplomats visit Lhasa
(AFP) Two weeks after protests began in the region, diplomats from 15 embassies, including those of the US, Britain, France and Japan, arrived in the Tibetan capital Lhasa for a tour hastily arranged by the Chinese authorities. "They will carry out on-the-spot investigation of the real facts of the (...) serious and violent criminal incident", the Chinese foreign ministry said. The US welcomed the move but President Bush later urged China to hold talks on the situation with representatives of the Dalai Lama. He said after meeting Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in Washington that he had told China's President Hu Jintao it was in his country's interest "that he sit down again with representatives of the Dalai Lama". Rudd added more forthrightly: "It's absolutely clear that there are human rights abuses in Tibet. That's clear cut. We need to be up front and absolutely straight about what's going on. Shouldn't shilly-shally about it".