(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-04-04 10:29

BEIJING  -- Even the Dalai Lama, who is said to be a true Buddhist and a careful scientist, makes mistakes - perhaps intentionally.

He told New Delhi-based TimesNow TV that Chinese soldiers in the garb of Tibetan monks were indulging in violence show on Chinese television.

"A few hundred Chinese soldiers...some photos we received...they received monk's dress and then dressed like monks, " he said in front of the camera.

The statement came after a prayer in the memory of those killed in Lhasa in New Delhi on March 29.

A day after his remark, Ngaba Tsegyam, an official of Dalai Lama in Taipei, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur, "We have received reports that Chinese police wearing Tibetan clothes and holding knives, which are not Tibetan knives, attacked the Han Chinese."

Some people did buy it. German weekly Der Stern reported the Dalai Lama's statement together with a photo showing a dozen Chinese soldiers carrying crimson clothing on a street with several civilians watching.

This photo, regarded by the Dalai Lama and his supporters as solid evidence, proved to be not so solid after careful examination by experts.

Actually, the photo was taken when the officers and soldiers joined in stage performances with residents several years ago, according to experts.

It was no surprise that Chinese government rejected the rumor.

"Dalai Lama's citing of rumors cannot change the truth of the incident. It only shows his guilty conscience. He was trying to pass the buck using rumors and cheating," said China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu.

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