China condemns Dalai Lama ahead of planned talks

SHENZHEN, China (Reuters) - Beijing called the Dalai Lama a criminal on Saturday, as representatives of the exiled Buddhist leader gathered for a meeting on Sunday in China to discuss the most serious unrest in Tibet for nearly two decades.

The condemnation suggested the government was in no mood to compromise following riots and protests in Tibet which have shaken China's preparations for the Beijing Olympics and stoked Western criticism of its rule in the mountain region.

"Patriotic people of Tibet strongly condemn and vehemently denounce the litany of crimes committed by the 14th Dalai Lama and his followers," said the official Tibet Daily, according to the region's official news website (www.chinatibetnews.com).

Chhime Chhoekyapa, a senior aide to the Dalai Lama, said the venue for the meeting was Shenzhen, a southern town across the border from Hong Kong. Security was tight outside the state guesthouse where the talks were expected to be held.

"We can't have great expectations" about the talks, he told Reuters in Dharamsala, the Indian headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

There have been six rounds of dialogue between China and the Dalai Lama's envoys since 2002 with no breakthrough.

Xinhua news agency said the talks would begin on Sunday.

"It is hoped that through contact and consultation, the Dalai side will take credible moves to stop activities aimed at splitting China, stop plotting and inciting violence and stop disrupting and sabotaging the Beijing Olympic Games so as to create conditions for talks," it quoted a central government department official as saying.

The Olympic torch's world tour has been dogged by protests over China's rule in Tibet.

China proposed the talks last week after Western governments urged it to open new dialogue with the Dalai Lama, who says he wants a high level of autonomy and religious freedom for the homeland he fled in 1959.

"BOUT OF MADNESS"

The Tibet Daily repeated charges the Dalai Lama's "clique" orchestrated riots on March 14 in the regional capital, Lhasa, to wreck preparations for August's Olympics.

"The Dalai clique's hopes of achieving Tibetan independence are increasingly dim, and at this time when their hopes have been destroyed, the Dalai clique launched a bloody violent event -- their last bout of madness," said the paper.

The Dalai Lama has said he objects to violence and supports the Beijing Olympics. China says he is insincere.

China says the rioting in Lhasa in March killed 18 "innocent civilians" and a police officer. It has not clearly specified how many, if any, protesters have died but says troops used maximum restraint and avoided using lethal weapons.

Exiled groups say many more Tibetans have died in the crackdown. The Tibetan government-in-exile estimated this week 203 Tibetans might have died in the unrest since March 10.

(Additional reporting by Benjamin Kang Lim and Chris Buckley in Beijing, Abishek Madhukar in Dharmsala and Alistair Scrutton in New Delhi; Editing by Matthew Jones)