April 04, 2008	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 26, 1429

BEIJING, April 3: China has urged the United States to support its position on the Tibet crisis, state media said on Thursday, after US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson expressed concern over the Chinese crackdown.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told Paulson to see through Tibet’s exiled leader, the Dalai Lama, and respect “truth” regarding the deadly protests, the Xinhua news agency reported.

“China hopes the US side will see clearly the true nature of the Dalai clique, respect truth and distinguish between right and wrong, understand and support the just position of the Chinese government and people,” Yang said.

In a meeting with the US Treasury chief on Wednesday, Yang explained Beijing’s version of the Lhasa riots, Xinhua said, referring to anti-Chinese protests in Tibet’s capital that turned deadly three weeks ago.

“(Yang) stressed that the measures taken by the Chinese government according to law had not only gained support from the Chinese people, but also won understanding and support from a majority of countries in the world,” Xinhua said.

Paulson, the first high-level US official to visit Beijing since the Tibet protests began, raised the sensitive issue on Wednesday, the first day of his visit. He left China on a US-bound plane on Thursday evening.

“As you might imagine, I expressed our concern about the violence and urged a peaceful resolution through dialogue,” Paulson told reporters after meeting President Hu Jintao on Wednesday.

“I made that point, I felt, in a very appropriate way to the appropriate people,” he added, but declined to say with whom he raised the issues.

Paulson’s visit came amid rising tensions in Washington over how to respond to China’s crackdown, with a group of US lawmakers on Tuesday moving to prohibit US President George Bush from attending the opening of the Beijing Olympics.

Despite his concern over Tibet, Bush has said he intends to be at the Aug 8 ceremony.

Paulson told reporters on Thursday he was planning to attend the Games, although he will not be travelling by military jet as he does when on government business.

“I’m definitely going to come,” he said. “I’ve got United Airlines tickets and I’m going to pay for it with my own little dollars and I’m going to take my family.” Exiled Tibetan leaders say 135 to 140 people have died in the Chinese crackdown on the demonstrations. China insists it has acted with restraint and killed no one, while blaming Tibetan rioters for the deaths of 20 people.

According to Xinhua on Thursday, China would start allowing foreigners back into Tibet from May 1.

By that date, China also aims to begin trials against those held responsible for the riots, the Tibet Commerce newspaper reported on Thursday. It said 800 had been arrested, while more than 280 had turned themselves in.

Paulson was in Beijing to lay the groundwork for the next round of the cabinet-level US-China Strategic Economic Dialogue in June in Washington. He met his newly appointed Chinese counterpart, Vice Premier Wang Qishan, on Wednesday, and Premier Wen Jiabao on Thursday.

“Now after it took office, our new government has put Vice Premier Wang Qishan in charge of this dialogue,” Wen told Paulson.

“We have complete confidence that a sound work relationship can be established between you and him, so as to further advance the dialogue.” Although China may dislike having the Tibet issue raised in a forum dedicated to economic issues, local analysts said the momentum in the twice-yearly dialogue was unlikely to be affected.

“I think China will treat separately the talks on Tibet and the Strategic Economic Dialogue,” said Han Xu, a Beijing-based political researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

For one thing, China’s increasingly sophisticated diplomats are likely to understand very well the dynamics of US politics forcing Paulson to raise the Tibet issue on the trip, he said.

“It’s imaginable that the US administration is under quite big pressure posed by the Congress. It’s a traditional style of US politics,” said Han.—AFP