Monday April 2 10:02 AM ET
Dalai Lama Says China Taking Harder Line on Tibet

By Michael Kramer

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, accused by China of making a politically motivated trip to Taiwan, said the plight of his homeland was getting worse as Beijing's rule becomes more harsh.

``The central government of the People's Republic of China, their thinking (is) becoming more hardline,'' the bespectacled, saffron-robed monk told Taiwan's parliament on the third day of
his 10-day visit.

``There is sometimes a little change, but basically thinking very hard-liner,'' he said, speaking under a giant portrait of the late founder of the Chinese republic Sun Yat-sen.

``So for the moment, things are getting worse and worse.''

China said on Sunday the Dalai Lama's visit to Taiwan was driven by separatist political motives he shares with Taipei.

``The Dalai's second Taiwan trip will certainly be a political visit for collaborating with Taiwan independence forces to separate the motherland,'' state-run Xinhua news agency said.

In comments on Monday, the Dalai Lama steered clear of making direct reference to China's accusation, although he reiterated his visit to Taiwan was a spiritual one.

``My profession is just Buddhist philosophy, nothing else -- from that way, I always try to promote human values,'' he said.

The Dalai Lama will meet President Chen Shui-bian of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party on Thursday.

His visit has inflamed political and religious passions on the island of 23 million, with advocates and opponents of Taiwan's independence from China taking to the streets on the day he arrived.

Extinction Threat

Beijing has threatened to attack if Taiwan declared independence or dragged its feet on unification talks.

Tibet, ruled by Beijing with an iron fist since 1950, has been rocked by periodic unrest in the past decade. Dozens of Buddhist monks and nuns have been jailed for rioting.

Many Tibetans still revere the Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule.

Western human rights groups have accused China of seeking to destroy Tibetan religion and culture. Beijing denies the charges, saying it is seeking to lift the region out of poverty.

``This sort of sad situation is neither good for Tibet nor for the People's Republic of China. So this is something like mutual misery,'' the globetrotting monk said.

``Tibetan side (is) now actually facing the threat of extinction.''

He lamented about the lack of trust between Tibetans and Chinese. ``The present situation is very bad for stability and unity,'' he said.

The Dalai Lama, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his peaceful campaign for autonomy, said Tibet's plight would have been averted if Beijing had pursued the reform-minded policies of late Communist Party general secretary Hu Yaobang.

``In early 80s, when Hu Yaobang was there,'' the Dalai Lama said, ``things (were) getting very hopeful.''

Hu was sacked in 1987 after being accused by hard-liners of allowing ``bourgeois liberalism'' -- Western democratic ideas -- to spread unchecked.

He died in 1989, sparking student-led demonstrations for democracy centered around Beijing's Tiananmen Square that were crushed by tanks and soldiers on June 4 that year.

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