China denounces Sangay's election

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China on Thursday denounced Harvard scholar Lobsang Sangay's election as the new Prime Minister of Tibetan Government-in-Exile, saying it is yet another 'political show' by the Dalai Lama as no country in the world recognises it.

"The so called Tibetan Government-in-Exile is an illegal political organisation established by Dalai Lama overseas to engage in Tibetan separatist activities," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a media briefing. "No country in the world recognised it," he said when asked to comment on Lobsang Sangay's election as Prime Minister of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile.

The ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) said since the 'exiled government' is not legitimate and is not recognised by any country in the world, Sangay's appointment is just another 'political show by the Dalai Lama'.

"This kind of show happens almost every year without any political significance. The Dalai Lama and his clique lost political power ever since he went to India in 1959. He and his followers cannot represent Tibet," Xu Zhitao, an official at the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the (CPC), told state-run Global Times. The news of Sangay's election was carried by the Global Times on the front page.

"Dalai Lama moved one step closer to retirement when his self-declared government-in- exile picked a new 'leader' – a Harvard graduate who has never been to Tibet," the report said.

Sangay now has to leave behind his research fellows in Harvard's East Asian Legal Studies program and move to the north Indian town of Dharamsala, where his new office is located, it said. It said Sangay was a leader of the Tibetan Youth Congress, a hard-line organisation under the Dalai Lama clique, that 'openly preaches violence in their search for Tibetan independence'. "The group was the mastermind behind a violent riot on March 14, 2008, which resulted in the deaths of 18 civilians," it said.

Sangay's election evoked interest as he was part of Dalai Lama's delegation which held talks with the Chinese government to resolve differences, the Times said.

The talks made no headway, despite repeated assertions by the Tibetan spiritual leader that he was not seeking separation of Tibet from China but a broad autonomy.

China blamed Dalai Lama's demand for 'greater Tibet', unifying all areas of Tibetan peninsula as one of the reason why there was no headway.