Dalai Lama doubts effect of Tibetan self-immolations

At least 117 Tibetans have set themselves alight since 2009, mostly in heavily Tibetan areas of Sichuan, Gansu and Qinghai provinces rather than in what China terms the Tibet Autonomous Region. Most have died.

"It's a sad thing that happens. Of course it's very very sad. In the meantime, I express I doubt how much effect (there is) from such drastic actions," the Dalai Lama said during a talk in Sydney.

A Chinese official in March accused the Dalai Lama of providing money to encourage people to set themselves on fire, and said there was evidence to prove he was orchestrating the self-immolations.

The Dalai Lama has in the past called the acts "understandable," but says he does not encourage them.

Several Tibet scholars have criticised his stance, saying his reluctance to tell his people to stop has strengthened their resolve to continue the fiery protests.

Beijing considers the Dalai Lama, who fled from China in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule, a violent separatist. The Dalai Lama says he is merely seeking greater autonomy for his Himalayan homeland.

The Dalai Lama, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, said the immolations were a sensitive political issue. But, he said, Tibetans were not sacrificing their lives because of simple social or family grievances.

"I express this as a symptom of some causes of Chinese officials. They must investigate what is the cause of this symptom, of these events. It's not the solution just to blame someone, including the Dalai Lama," he said.

In the most recent case, a Tibetan nun who set fire to herself in protest at Chinese rule appeared to have survived the self-immolation attempt, a rights group and a media outlet said today

The woman set herself ablaze near Nyitso monastery - the scene of similar protests - in Daofu County, an area with many ethnic Tibetans in China's southwestern Sichuan province, Radio Free Asia (RFA) said.

China has tightened already strict controls in Tibet since the self-immolations began two years and has all but banned visits by foreign journalists.

Tibet has also been a cause of diplomatic friction, especially with the United States, where meetings between the Dalai Lama and US presidents have infuriated China.

The US State Department has urged China to allow Tibetans to "express grievances freely", while calling on Tibetans to "end self-immolations".

The Dalai Lama said Tibetans could "easily hurt other people", but instead were choosing "to sacrifice their own lives, not hurting others".

China has defended its iron-fisted rule in Tibet, saying the mountainous region suffered from dire poverty and brutal exploitation until 1950, when Communist troops "peacefully liberated" it.

Edited by Hannah Strange for telegraph.co.uk