(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-04-09 10:09

LONDON -- The riots in Tibet did not start by incident, but were organized in order to cause trouble for China and for the Olympics in Beijing, an independent business leader in Britain said on Thursday.

In an interview with Xinhua, Stephen Perry, chairman of the 48 Group Club in Britain said, "Kill people, burn buildings, that is something no society should allow. Monks are not violent people, the monks were told to go out for demonstration to cause trouble and violence."

He aired the view that there are some people in Tibet who want to cause trouble and violence and there are some people outside Tibet who want to stir this up and cause more trouble for China.

Perry also criticized some western media organizations for applying double standards to China, adding that forces trying to hold back China would never succeed because China is strong enough to withstand the pressure.

The 48 Group Club is an independent business network committed to promoting positive relations with China. The origin of the Club stems from a group of far-sighted British business leaders, who conducted an "ice-breaking" mission to China in the early 1950s to establish trade relations.