Chinese president says Tibet issues are 'entirely an internal issue'

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SANYA, China - Chinese President Hu Jintao says Tibetan issues are for China to deal with alone.

In his first comments on recent unrest in Tibet, the official Xinhua News Agency quotes Hu Saturday saying that the matter is "entirely an internal issue of China."

Hu says China's conflict with the followers of exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama is not a problem of ethics, religion or human rights.

He says it's a problem "either to safeguard national unification or to split the motherland."

Xinhua quotes Hu in remarks made while meeting Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

© The Canadian Press, 2008