Beijing: As major powers turned the heat on it with calls to maintain restraint and resume dialogue with the Dalai Lama, China today said that Tibet was "totally an internal" affair and it firmly opposed outside interference.

"The Tibetan issue is totally an internal affair of China and brooks no interference," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters here as US and European countries piled more pressure on Beijing to hold talks with the Dalai Lama and expressed concern over its handling of the unrest in Tibet.

China also bluntly told European countries not to adopt "double standards," as France joined other nations in the chorus with its President Nicolas Sarkozy saying "all options are" open regarding a possible boycott of the opening ceremony of the Olympics here in August. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said he could not tolerate China's crackdown.

"I believe there are criminals, especially violent criminals in the European countries. How do the police handle these cases in Europe. So, I hope Europe will not adopt double standards," Qin said.

"I hope people will not adopt double standards and send any erroneous messages to the Dalai clique (supporters of the Dalai Lama)."

Qin insisted that "Tibet is an internal issue. China firmly opposes any country's interference in Tibet affairs and China's internal affairs. We request the relevant countries to respect our sovereignty and territorial integrity and extensively recognised international laws and not to facilitate the Dalai clique and his separatist activities."

China, he said, had the "determination and competence" to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Qin said that during the telephonic talk with US President George Bush, Chinese President Hu Jintao made it clear that the doors of the dialogue with the Dalai Lama were open but he must "truly" abandon "separatist propositions".

The Chinese President also told Bush that the Dalai Lama must recognise Tibet and Taiwan as inseparable parts of China, that he must stop his activities of "inciting and planning criminal acts" and stop disruption of Beijing Olympics.

Asked about some media reports suggesting that US intelligence agency CIA could be behind the Tibet-related unrest, Qin said "Tibet has been an inalienable part of China since ancient times. How come Tibet has suddenly become independent. You may refer to archives. There is no such thing as Tibet independence in history."

About the claim of Tibetan government in exile that 140 protesters were killed, Qin said, "I don't know how they made that statistics. You can ask them how they reached that number of victims and whether they have conclusive proof."

On claims of Tibetan groups about a monk having been shot dead in Sichuan province during a protest last week, he said one police officer was killed by violent mobs.

Asked about reports that a monk had died of hunger when police shut down a temple in Lhasa, not allowing any access, he said "I do not know where you got the information. I don't believe such a thing could ever happen".

Qin said attempts to disrupt the Olympic torch relay were "shameful acts" which violated the spirit of the Games and common aspirations of the people worldwide.

"We believe the torch relay with the support of the people worldwide will be held smoothly."

Source : PTI