A senior CPPCC official has downplayed the Dalai Lama's recent international activity, saying it would "only disgrace" the separatist religious leader and his clique.

Zhu Weiqun, head of the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), answers questions from journalists at a press conference in Beijing, March 11, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]

In response to a question raised by the Reuters on Wednesday March 11, 2015 on whether China has been successful in preventing foreign leaders from meeting the Dalai Lama, Zhu Weiqun, member of the standing committee of the National Committee of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said that the Dalai's so-called international influence was diminishing, and that China's Tibet Autonomous Region will not descend into chaos.

"Fewer international leaders want to meet him, although exceptions have occurred. Those who insist on receiving him are bringing disgrace on themselves," said Zhu, who also heads the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee of the CPPCC.

Zhu noted that the international press no longer show much interest in the Dalai Lama, admitting that the Dalai Lama's visits have affected China's relationship with those countries. But he stressed that a more stable Tibet with better ethnic unity and religious harmony is more important.

Zhu blasted the Dalai Lama and his followers for inciting self-immolation among Tibetan people so as to cause chaos in Tibet. He said Tibet's development, supported by the entire nation, is a hard refutation of the Dalai Lama's separatism. Zhu, who is an expert on religious and ethnic affairs, urged the Dalai Lama to hold talks with the central government, noting that the "door is always open;" but he reiterated that issues such as "high-level autonomy" for Tibet or the "Greater Tibet" proposed by the religious leader in exile are always off the table.

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