Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has accused China of imposing a
"death sentence" on Tibet.
The Dalai Lama made the comments after
arriving in Paris Friday, saying he believes Tibet's heritage and culture are in
jeopardy.
A representative of the Tibetan government-in-exile (Tashi
Wangdu) told VOA from Brussels that the Dalai Lama also is concerned about the
large migration of ethnic Chinese into Tibet.
The Nobel peace prize
winner is in France to receive an honorary citizenship from the city of Paris.
The Paris city council voted to give him the honor last April following China's
crackdown on a wave of anti-government protests in Tibet.
China warned
Paris last month against bestowing the award. Relations between China and
France deteriorated sharply last December following a meeting in Poland between
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the Dalai Lama.
Beijing claims that
the Dalai Lama seeks independence for Tibet, while the Dalai Lama says he only
wants autonomy for the region.
France is the final leg of the Dalai
Lama's tour of Europe, which has already taken him to Denmark, Iceland and the
Netherlands.
While in the Hague, the Dalai Lama visited the Dutch
parliament, where he urged the international community to investigate the
situation in Tibet and push China to end fear and oppression
there.
Although Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende declined to see
the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader did meet last week with Danish
Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, provoking an angry response from
China.
Some information for this report
provided by AP and AFP.