US concerned at China's jailing 30 for Tibet riots

WASHINGTON, April 30 (Reuters) - The White House on Wednesday expressed concern about a Chinese court's jailing of 30 people for their roles in Tibet's deadly riots, which triggered anti-China protests across the globe ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

The Intermediate People's Court in Lhasa on Tuesday handed down terms of three years to life, the first sentences since the March 14 violence and a Chinese crackdown that led to protests and disruption of the global Olympic torch relay.

"We are concerned," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters when asked about the sentences. "We don't think that anyone should break the law. But we also believe in freedom of expression and assembly."

China has blamed Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and his government-in-exile for plotting the riots, in which at least 18 "innocent civilians," according to Beijing, were killed by Tibetan mobs in the regional capital, Lhasa.

International human rights groups have criticized the Chinese crackdown, accusing Beijing of mass detentions of monks and activists.

China offered last week to hold talks with envoys of the Dalai Lama, though it has given no details on when and where a dialogue might take place.

"We hope that those conversations are productive," Perino said. "We think it is in China's interests that they continue to have those because the Dalai Lama is a man of peace and someone who I think, if they were open to, can help calm the tensions in the area." (Reporting by Matt Spetalnick)