Dalai Lama representative seeks mediator role for Japan in Tibet

Mar 27, 2008, 11:05 GMT

Tokyo - A representative of the Dalai Lama called on Japan Thursday to play a mediating role on Tibet.

'I feel if there is a will from the Japanese government side, the Japanese government can play a positive role bringing the Chinese and Tibetan leadership together,' Lhakpa Tshoko, the Tibetan spiritual leader's official representative in Tokyo, said before Chinese President Hu Jintao is to make a visit to Japan, possibly in May.

Tshoko criticized Japanese reaction to violent unrest in Tibetan areas of China over the past two weeks, saying the government had offered no official help and the media had virtually ignored the problem.

The reason for this reluctance from both sides was Japan's deference to its relations with China, he said.

He also urged Japanese government officials to meet the Dalai Lama, noting that the leaders of most other Group of Seven countries had done so and saying he hoped Japan's government would one day 'better understand our situation.'

China was unlikely to accept a mediator to resolve its problems with Tibet. On Tuesday, when asked whether international mediators could play a role in ending unrest there, Qin Gang, spokesman for China's Foreign Affairs Ministry, said, 'Tibet is an internal affair of China and brooks no foreign interference.'