TOKYO: The Chinese government is not “seriously” probing the cause of a spate of self-immolations by Tibetans across China, the Dalai Lama said Monday, Japanese media reported.
“The Chinese government should investigate the cause (of the incidents). China does not look into it seriously and tries to end (the incidents) only by criticising me,” Kyodo News reported in Japanese.
The report comes after seven people set themselves on fire in a week, according to Chinese state media, and as the ruling Communist party meets to anoint new rulers for the next decade.
The Dalai Lama was speaking to reporters in Okinawa, in the south of Japan, the latest leg of a 12-day visit to the country.
His comments, which were translated by Kyodo into Japanese, are thought to be the first on the issue since the Communist Party congress began in Beijing last week.