Dalai Lama urges caution on China Olympic bid

The Dalai Lama, visiting the city that will host the Winter Games in February, said on Thursday that China should only be allowed to stage the 2008 Olympics if the award would advance the cause of human rights.

The Dalai Lama, on the second leg of a six-city speaking tour of the United States, said China wanted to host the Olympics for "political reasons."

He urged International Olympic Committee (IOC) members who will choose a city for 2008 to heed the opinions of human rights leaders.

"I would like to know their opinion. If they feel this event taking place in China would help to change, then I would support it," the Dalai Lama told reporters.

The religious leader, who fled to India in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule, is seeking support for Tibetan autonomy and respect for human rights by Beijing.

A tiny group of Tibetan supporters stood outside an IOC press meeting in Salt Lake City to protest China's bid for the 2008 Olympics. Utah hosts the Winter Games in February.

China, which lost the bid for the 2000 Olympics to Australia by a narrow margin, has mounted a vigorous campaign for the 2008 event. It is keen to show the advances it has made and bristles at the possibility of losing the Olympics because of criticism over its human rights record.

The Dalai Lama's visit comes at a difficult time in U.S.-China relations, following the recent U.S. spy plane incident and the announcement of a U.S. arms sale to Taiwan.

The Dalai Lama also met the leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as the Mormon Church is formally known.

But no statements or photographs of the closed-door meeting were made available.

Mail Cricket Editor