Chinese envoy to Canada calls Dalai Lama a serial liar

Chinas Ambassador to Canada Lu Shumin called the Dalai Lama a serial liar, and said it is irresponsible for people to criticize Chinas record on human rights.

Ottawa, Mar 28 : China's Ambassador to Canada Lu Shumin called the Dalai Lama a serial liar, and said it is irresponsible for people to criticize China's record on human rights.

"The Dalai Lama has been telling lies to the world for decades," Shumin told reporters here when asked why many in Western countries support Tibetans' protests against Chinese rule.

Shumin also said that "any remarks made accusing China of so-called human rights suppression, I consider that irresponsible and inappropriate, and it's interference in China's internal issues."Shumin defended the Chinese military's crackdown on Tibetan protesters who called for a boycott of Beijing Olympic Games.

Shumin showed journalists a video that provides glimpses of violent street demonstrations in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, and said that they had to be suppressed.

"The Dalai Lama has presented himself to be a peaceful, angel-like figure, for such a longtime," he said.

"If you look at what the Dalai Lama is, what Tibet was like before 1959, you will find out really what Dalai Lama was and still is," Shumin added.

His criticisms came as world leaders pressed China for restraint in the violence in Tibet and urged to resume dialogue with representatives of the Dalai Lama.

On Thursday, US President George W Bush had called his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao and emphasized his concerns about the unrest in Tibet and urged him to grant access to journalists and diplomats.

However, Hu rejected Bush's call saying his government's policy towards the Dalai Lama was " clear and consistent, and it has all along kept in touch with his side with great patience".

ANI