The Chinese Government issued a white paper yesterday to acquaint the world with its ethnic policy and the facts about Tibet, and urged the Dalai Lama to "truly relinquish" his stand for "Tibet independence."

The white paper, released by the Information Office of the State Council, is the first of its kind to focus on the "regional ethnic autonomy" policy long-practiced in China's ethnic minority regions, as well as the substantial benefits this policy has brought to Tibet.

The issuing of the white paper responds to international propaganda and lobbying by the Dalai Lama, who alleged that the regional ethnic autonomy in Tibet was "devoid of essential contents" and proposed the exercise of "one country, two systems" and "a high degree of autonomy" in Tibet after the model examples of Hong Kong and Macao.

Xinhua

(China Daily 05/24/2004 page1)