BEIJING, December 9 – China Thursday rejected a resolution by the US Senate that called for the release of a jailed Tibetan monk, saying the case of Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche fell within “China’s internal affairs” and related to stamping out terrorism.
“Deleg undermined the security of society and conducted terrorist bombing activites, he would be punished in any country,” foreign ministry spokeswoman said.
“Relevant countries, congresses and people concerned, should refrain from any moves that interfere in China’s internal affairs. We are handling the relevant affair in accordance with our law.”
The US Senate passed a resolution Tuesday urging China to release the jailed monk and other political prisoners.
“Their only crime was peacefully serving the community of Tibet,” said Senator Sam Brownback, the sponsor of the measure.
“It is time for the government of China to stop holding innocent religious figures in captivity merely for peacefully protesting Chinas occupation of Tibet,” said Brownback, who is chairman of the Senate’s East Asia Subcommittee.
Tenzin Deleg, 52, was arrested in April 2002, for a bomb attack in Sichuan’s capital Chengdu, in which one person was killed and another injured.
In a closed door trial, he and another monk, Lobsang Dhondup, were also found guilty of further explosions in the Ganzi region of west Sichuan.
Both men denied the charges, and the case prompted an international outcry.
Lobsang Dhondup, 28, was executed in January 2003.
Tensin Deleg was sentenced to death in December 2002, suspended for two years. The suspension expired a week ago but Chinese officials have refused to say whether or not he has been executed.
The International Campaign for Tibet estimates that there are 150 political prisoners in Tibet, about three-fourths of whom are monks and nuns. Many are subjected to physical and mental torture, isolation, and death, the group said.
