Hu tells Rudd Tibet issue is 'internal affair'

SANYA, Hainan: President Hu Jintao on Saturday said in talks with visiting Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd that the conflict between the central government and the Dalai group concerns national unification and dismissed links to religion and human rights.

"Our conflict with the Dalai clique is not an ethnic problem; it's not a religious problem, nor is it a human rights problem. It is a (conflict) to either safeguard national unification or split the motherland," Hu said, adding the Tibet issue is an entirely internal affair.

He made the comments during a meeting with Rudd ahead of the Boao Forum for Asia's opening ceremony on Saturday.