09 June 2006
China condemns Spanish genocide case
(Reuters) The Chinese government has strongly condemned a Spanish court that has decided to hear a case involving allegations that China has carried out genocide in Tibet, resulting in over one million Tibetans being killed or disappearing since China occupied the region in 1950. The court is considering charges of crimes against humanity, state terrorism and torture against seven high-ranking Chinese officials, including a former president in a lawsuit filed by the Madrid-based Committee to Support Tibet. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao condemned the Spanish court's decision to hear the charges, saying: "The so-called genocide in Tibet is complete and sheer libel and [a] fabrication against China". "The Tibet issue is purely a question of China's internal affairs. We are opposed to the attempt of any country to interfere in our internal affairs under the pretext of the Tibet question". The councillor of the Spanish Embassy was summoned to the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Beijing to discuss the issue but no details of the meeting were immediately available, said Spanish spokesman Gregorio Laso.