China pours scorn on Dalai Lama amid Tibet talks ire

By Chris Buckley

BEIJING (Reuters) - China poured scorn on the Dalai Lama on Sunday and hailed protesters against Tibetan self-rule as patriotic heroes while some Chinese vented ire at their own government for proposing talks with the exiled Buddhist leader.

China has blamed what it calls the Dalai Lama's "clique" for recent unrest across Tibetan areas, which it says was aimed at upstaging the Beijing Olympic Games.

Many Chinese, proud to host the Games in August, have denounced the unrest and subsequent pro-Tibet independence protests that have dogged the international Olympic torch relay.

But after a Western diplomatic chorus urged dialogue with the Dalai Lama, Beijing abruptly announced on Friday that it intended to meet his aides in the next few days.

Yet the undimmed criticism of the Dalai Lama in Chinese official media suggests the government will treat any talks as a chance to amplify opposition to his calls for high-level regional autonomy, which Beijing says amounts to outright independence.

"The Dalai clique has always been masters at games with words and the ideas that they have tossed about truly make the head spin," the People's Daily, the paper of the ruling Communist Party, said in a commentary. "Questions of sovereignty are beyond debate and splitting China is sure to fail."

The paper instead praised ethnic Chinese demonstrators who opposed pro-Tibet independence protests that disrupted the global Olympic torch relay, particularly in London and Paris.

"Faced with Tibet independence, the Chinese government and people, and overseas Chinese, have shown unprecedented unity. ...Those who follow national unity are national heroes, and those who split the nation are criminals to history."