China’s top official in Tibet on Friday accused the Himalayan region’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, of seeking to sabotage the Beijing Olympics.

The Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Communist rule, told Britain’s ITV network in January that during the Games Tibet supporters should protest peacefully in China against Beijing’s rule.

“The Beijing Olympics is the focus of world attention and the people are exalted . . . but even a grand gathering like this, he is engaging in sabotage and threatening to cause trouble,” Zhang Qingli, Communist Party boss of Tibet, said without elaborating.

“How can this not be called engaging in splittism?” Zhang told a news conference on the sidelines of parliament when asked by Reuters why China will not believe the Dalai Lama does not advocate independence and what he needs to do to convince China.

Five groups claiming to represent tens of thousands of exiled Tibetans are planning a march from India into Tibet ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics as part of a series of actions to try and embarrass China into ending its rule in the Buddhist region.

But the groups said they would not seek approval from the Dalai Lama, who has a more moderate line and says he wants autonomy for Tibet, not outright independence. The groups have said it would be difficult and dangerous to cross into China.

Zhang’s lieutenant, Qiangba Puncog, the top government official in Tibet, said the activities of the Dalai Lama “clique were the main factors of instability in Tibet”.

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