Dalai 'used' disgruntled youths, Tibetologist says

Some "unavoidable internal problems", as well as separatists nurtured by both imperialist forces and the Dalai clique, were to blame for last year's deadly riot in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet autonomous region, a senior Tibetologist said yesterday.

"China's economy grew fast, and problems such as employment, medical treatment and housing all surfaced, each sparking concerns nationwide, including in Tibet," Zhang Yun, professor of China Tibetology Research Center, told a group of foreign reporters at an exhibition on the 50th anniversary of Tibet's Democratic Reform.

"These problems are found everywhere in the world. In response, the central government spared no effort to introduce a series of common folk-friendly measures, all the while being largely oblivious to the fact that some other forces spared no effort either - only to their own ends," he said.