Japan urges China to improve Tibet situation amid preparations for Chinese leader's visit
TOKYO: Japan urged China on Friday to squarely face Tibetan unrest and do its utmost to keep the problem from further affecting the Beijing Olympics.
Japan's Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda told Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi that Beijing should start talks with Tibetans and be more open about its recent crackdown on anti-government rioting and protests in Tibet, according to a Japanese Foreign Ministry statement.
Yang is in Tokyo for a series of talks to prepare for a visit by China's president — the first such trip in a decade.
Fukuda told Yang that "China must face the reality that the Tibetan conflict has become an international issue, and should do its utmost to prevent it from affecting the Beijing Olympics."
On Friday, a major Buddhist temple Zenkoji withdrew from a plan to host the April 26 torch relay in central Japan city of Nagano, citing safety concerns and sympathy among its monks and worshippers for Tibetan protesters.
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Yang said the Tibetan issue is an internal matter and renewed accusations that Tibetans' spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, was fanning the conflict.
In latest developments in the crackdown, two Tibetan monks who took part in a riot last month in northwestern China have surrendered to police, Chinese state media reported.
About 200 monks broke down the gates and walls of a government building and police station in the riots.
Yang said China was still open to talks with the Dalai Lama on the condition that he "abandon his pursuit of independence and attempt to hinder the Olympics." He made similar remarks Thursday when he held talks with his Japanese counterpart, Masahiko Komura.
The Dalai Lama, who has lived in exile in India since 1959 and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, has strongly denied China's allegations that he and his followers have used the run-up to the Olympics to foment unrest.
Chinese President Hu Jintao will visit Japan on May 6-10 — the first such trip by a Chinese president since Jiang Zemin in 1998.
Fukuda and Yang also agreed to make further efforts "to overcome various problems" and make Hu's visit a success.
Japan and China have strongly improved relations during the past 18 months after ties plummeted due to former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to a Tokyo war shrine, and to disputes over territorial issues and Japan's wartime actions.
Despite warming ties, the two countries remain divided by a dispute over ownership of gas reserves in the East China Sea, the Tibet situation and tension over recent poisonings allegedly caused by dumplings imported from China.