The Dalai Lama accused China yesterday of pushing Tibetan culture and identity to the brink of extinction in the 50 years since he was forced into exile in India.

In an unusually strongly worded speech at his headquarters in the north Indian town of Dharamsala, the Tibetan spiritual leader said his country had become a hell on Earth, with his people enduring “untold suffering and destruction” and being forced to live in fear. He said that Tibet had suffered a “brutal crackdown” since anti-China protests that began in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, a year ago yesterday and spread to other parts of Tibet.

However, despite the growing frustration of younger Tibetan exiles, the 1989 Nobel Peace laureate offered no new ideas on how to deal with the situation, urging his followers instead to stick to his policy of seeking genuine autonomy for Tibet through negotiation and non-violent protest. “These 50 years have brought untold suffering and destruction to the land and people of Tibet,” he told a crowd of about 2,000 at the golden-roofed Main Temple in Dharamsala. “Even today, Tibetans in Tibet live in constant fear and the Chinese authorities remain constantly suspicious of them. Today, the religion, culture, language and identity — which successive generations of Tibetans have considered more precious than their lives — are nearing extinction; in short, the Tibetan people are regarded like criminals deserving to be put to death.”

Chinese Communist troops took control of Tibet in 1950 and easily crushed an uprising nine years later, killing an estimated 87,000 people. The Dalai Lama fled into exile in India a week after the uprising, followed by about 83,000 Tibetans.

Beijing says that the region has been part of its territory for centuries and has repeatedly dismissed the Dalai Lama’s claim that he wants only autonomy, branding him a dangerous separatist. Yesterday it denounced his comments as lies.

“The Dalai Lama clique is confusing right and wrong,” said Ma Zhaoxu, a foreign ministry spokesman. “They are spreading rumours. The democratic reforms [under Chinese rule] are the widest and most profound reforms in Tibetan history.”

A commentary released by China’s official Xinhua news agency said: “This ‘hell on Earth’ is precisely ‘paradise on Earth’ for the ordinary Tibetans.”

The Dalai Lama used his speech to pay tribute to Tibetans who have died under Chinese rule. “These thrust Tibetans into such depths of suffering and hardship that they literally experienced hell on Earth,” he said. “The immediate result of these campaigns was the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Tibetans.”

He said that his negotiations with Beijing had achieved “no concrete results”, but noted that an unprecedented conference of Tibetan exiles in November had agreed to stick to his “middle way” approach. “I have no doubt that the justice of the Tibetan cause will prevail if we continue to tread a path of truth and non-violence,” he said. “We Tibetans are looking for a legitimate and meaningful autonomy.”

In Washington, a US politician introduced a resolution to Congress that would urge China to end its “repression” of Tibet. “The situation in Tibet challenges the conscience of the world,” said Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, a long-time supporter of the Tibetan cause.

The Dalai Lama had asked his supporters to mark yesterday’s anniversary with solemn prayers and ceremonies. No sooner had he finished speaking, however, than thousands of young Tibetans gathered in Dharamsala and Delhi for protests — many of them organised by radical exile groups seeking independence. Thousands more protested in Seoul, Nepal and Canberra, the Australian capital, where they scuffled with police outside the Chinese Embassy, leading to four arrests.

Tenzin Choeying, the head of Students for a Free Tibet, said the protests were designed to provoke Beijing, with particpants coming from across the political spectrum. Among them in Dharamsala was Tenzin Norsang, 28, a Tibetan teacher. “I believe in the middle way but I must also go to the protest,” he said. “We must do what we can to keep our message alive.”

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