Beijing: China today rubbished the Dalai Lama s charge that it has unleashed a "cultural genocide" in Tibet and accused the spiritual leader of working with a long-term separatist agenda.

It was not "an ethnic issue, not a religious issue and not a cultural issue" but separatist activities of the Dalai Lama with a long-term view to "separate Tibet from the motherland," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a news briefing here tonight.

"He (the Dalai Lama) has told a lot of lies to mislead the media and the public," the spokesman alleged.

Liu said Tibet was an internal affair of China and it had the capability and determination to safeguard its territorial integrity and sovereignty.

He also rejected the demand of the Dalai Lama for an international investigation into the handling of the protests in Tibetan capital of Lhasa.

Liu insisted that the law enforcement agencies have shown "maximum restraint" in dealing with the protests and charged that the large-scale violence was "well managed, organised and planned" by the "Dalai clique".

"The law enforcement agencies showed maximum restraint. They did not bring in or use any lethal weapon. No curfew is imposed. No martial law," Liu said.

He said the "massive scale" of violence showed the "true nature" of the "Dalai clique" and "we have evidence that it was involved and organised these series of violence".

"We will release the information in due course."

Source : PTI