By BEN FELLER
WASHINGTON, April 9 — President Bush is calling on China to reach out to the Dalai Lama to find a solution to the unrest in Tibet.
Bush says “it would stand the Chinese government in good stead if they would begin a dialogue with the representatives for the Dalia Lama.”
The president spoke about the civil unrest in Tibet and China’s crackdown there on Wednesday with Singapore’s senior minister, Goh Chok Tong. Violent clashes in Tibet are threatening to overshadow China’s hosting role of the Summer Olympics in August.
Bush said Wednesday that if China’s leaders ever were to reach out to Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, “they’d find him to be a really fine man, a peaceful man.”
Bush has previously appealed directly to Chinese President Hu Jintao on the matter.
