RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 12, No. 53, Part I, 18 March 2008
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RUSSIA URGES CHINA TO STOP 'UNLAWFUL ACTIONS' IN TIBET.
Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin, who chairs the Security Council in March, said on March 17 that the council will not discuss the recent unrest in Tibet because developments in Tibet are an internal affair of China, international media reported. Foreign Minister Lavrov said in an interview published on March 18 in "Rossiiskaya gazeta" that recent Western recognition of Kosova's independence has encouraged "separatists" elsewhere, including in Tibet and Macedonia. He argued that the unrest in Tibet "is not taking place by chance," adding that this is just "the beginning of a very precarious process." Lavrov, who recently attended a meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference and will leave soon for the Middle East, cautioned Muslim countries against recognizing Kosova lest they undermine "international law and practices" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," March 11 and 14, 2008). On March 17, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement that "we express hope that the authorities of the People's Republic of China will take all necessary measures to curtail unlawful actions and ensure the speedy normalization of the situation in the autonomous region" of Tibet, mid.ru reported. The statement added that any "attempts to politicize the summer Olympic Games that are to be held in China in 2008 are unacceptable." PM
