The Foreign Affairs Committee under the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, on Saturday strongly criticized the European Parliament's (EP) recent resolution on Tibet.

The committee said in a statement that EP's unfounded accusation of China is an arrogant interference in China's domestic affairs and will damage Sino-Europe relations.

It urged the EP to respect the truth on the Tibet riots and never again do things that will hurt the emotions of the Chinese people and go against the spirit of the Olympics.

The committee said China was strongly indignant and firmly opposed to the resolution obstinately passed by the European Parliament on April 10, regardless of objective facts and China's opposition.

It demanded the EP value the overall ties between China and Europe, respect truth and facts, get rid of ideological bias, take a just and objective stance, and restrain from sending wrong signals to the Dalai clique.

The statement said the EP's groundless accusation of China for handling the Lhasa riots according to the law has violated the spirit enshrined in the Olympic Charter and politicized the Olympic Games.

"We express our strong indignation and firm opposition to such resolutions and acts that rudely interfere with China's domestic affairs, undermined China-Europe relations, severely hurt the emotions of the Chinese people and inflate the secessionist forces seeking for "Tibet independence", said the release.

The riots in Lhasa, Tibet, were organized, premeditated, deliberately masterminded and instigated by the Dalai clique. They were severe, violent crimes colluded by the secessionist forces seeking for "Tibet independence" both in and beyond China with the purpose to cause bloodshed and impose pressure on the Chinese government, sabotage the Beijing Olympic Games and destroy stability and harmony in China, said the release.

It noted such riots, once again, were evidences of the secessionist nature of the Dalai clique and its hypocrisy and deception in labeling themselves as advocates of "peace" and "non-violence".

The release said the EP failed to condemn the violent crimes of assaults, vandalism, looting and arson, the mobs that killed 18 innocent people, and the Dalai clique who masterminded and organized such violent crimes, but slandered China for "cruel crackdown on Tibetan demonstrators".

Such slander was unacceptable to the Chinese government, the Chinese people or anyone with a conscience in the international community, said the release.

It reiterated Tibet was an inseparable part of the Chinese territory, the Tibet affairs were a sheer internal affair of China and no foreign government or organization had the right to interfere.

The Beijing Olympiad was a great event for the whole world and the people throughout the world, said the release.

China firmly opposed linking the so-called "Tibet issue" to the Olympiad out of political motivation, the release said. It added that practices to tarnish the Olympic Games have been widely condemned and criticized by world people who love peace and the Olympic sports.

Any attempt aimed at taking advantage of China's hosting of the Games to exert pressure on the government and the Chinese people would not succeed, said the release.

The NPC values its ties with the EP, and sincerely hopes the EP members cherish the hard-won sound relationship between the two, stops hurting the Chinese people or tarnishing the Olympic spirits, and ensures a healthy development of all-round strategic partnership.

(Xinhua News Agency April 12, 2008)