Little sympathy for Tibet protesters among Chinese

BEIJING (Reuters) - Conspiracy theories, denunciations of the Dalai Lama and an unflinching belief that Tibetans are better off under China's rule.

The views of many people in China on the recent unrest in Tibet could be plucked verbatim from the most fiery editorials of the Communist Party's official newspapers.

As authorities in Tibet announced dozens of arrests following anti-Chinese riots that rocked the remote Himalayan region, Han Chinese in Beijing on Thursday applauded the crackdown.

"They should suppress the riots, no matter using police or using military force and put the real criminals in prison," said Zhang Ming, a 25-year-old Beijing office worker. "I don't have any sympathy for these people."

Zhang, like many other Han Chinese, who make up the vast majority of China's 1.3 billion people, can't see what Tibetans would have to be unhappy about.

"I don't think Tibetans want independence. Tibet is treated well under the Chinese government. Any normal Tibetans would be happy live under Chinese rule," Zhang said.

China's rapid response to the Tibetan unrest, which began in regional capital Lhasa last weed and has since spread to neighboring provinces, has seen troops pour into ethnic Tibetan villages and journalists kicked out of sensitive areas.

Like China's senior leaders, ordinary Chinese say they have little doubt as to the real drivers behind the unrest.

"I personally believe the Dalai Lama is behind the protests," said a retired housewife surnamed Geng. "I don't believe his feelings towards the Communist Party could have changed."

China blames the Tibetan spiritual leader for masterminding the protests in Tibet from Dharamsala, the seat of his government-in-exile.

The Dalai Lama, who fled China after a failed uprising in 1959, has denied any involvement and on Thursday said he was ready to talk to Chinese leaders.

He has also called on Tibetans to eschew violent means of protest and live side-by-side with Chinese.

Few Chinese believe his intentions are pure.

"He was taken from the stage by the Communist Party, and now he wants to return. He had a lot of power before, and a lot of slaves. Now he has none," said a middle-aged businessman from Hebei province who declined to give his name.

While the Dalai Lama has proved an effective figure for the Chinese government to explain the Tibetan unrest to its people, Western governments have proved a tougher audience.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will meet the 72-year-old on a visit to Britain in May, in a plan announced on Wednesday that drew a testy response from China's Foreign Ministry.

International sympathy for the Dalai Lama may be lost on many Chinese. But the attention brought by the Tibetan protests four months before the Olympic Games in Beijing has been noted.

"How could these people do this ahead of the Olympics?" snapped a middle-aged woman surnamed Li, brushing away a friend urging her not to comment. "They should think about the national interest."

(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Alex Richardson)