Dharamsala: Welcoming China's emergence as a "powerful country" due to its "great economic progress", Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama today said it put a responsibility on Beijing to give equality and freedom to all "nationalities" in the country.

Referring to the upcoming Olympic Games being hosted by China, he said the international community should remind Beijing to uphold the principles of freedom of speech and friendship.

"I have from the very beginning supported the idea that China should be granted the opportunity to host the Olympic Games. China should prove herself a good host by providing these freedoms," he said as hundreds of Tibetans in exile in India started a march to protest against China hosting the mega sporting event.

The Dalai Lama, in his speech on the 49th anniversary of Tibetan Uprising Day, maintained that Chinese repression against Tibetans continued to increase and asked Beijing to bring an immediate halt to such policies.

"In Tibet, repression continues to increase with numerous, unimaginable and gross violations of human rights, denial of religious freedom and politicisation of religious issues," said the spiritual leader who noted that he was in "semi-retirement" lately.

He said China "is emerging as a powerful country due to her great economic progress. This is to be welcomed, but it has also provided China an opportunity to play an important role on the global stage."
Source : PTI