Bush urges Jintao to initiate talks with Dalai Lama

TIBET ROW: Bush has called for talks between Beijing and Dalai Lama.

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New Delhi: Brand China is taking a beating over Tibet. US President George W Bush has said the US will not boycott the Beijing Olympics.

But Bush expressed concern on the Tibet unrest in a conversation with Chinese President Hu Jintao. He also asked Hu to allow diplomats and journalists access to Tibet.

Bush has also called for talks between Beijing and exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

Briefing reporters on the call, National Security Advisor of US Stephen Hadley said, “The president pushed very hard on the need for restraint in the violence in Tibet as well as the need for consultation with representatives of the Dalai Lama.”

"The President pushed very hard on the need to concern about violence in Tibet, the need for restraint, the need for consultation with representatives of the Dalai Lama. As you know, there have been consultations between Chinese authorities and representatives of the Dalai Lama in the past," National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley said.

He has stressed on the need for restraint in talks between the two sides. Bush's telephone call to Hu came more than two weeks after the biggest protests against Chinese rule in Tibet in nearly 20 years.

"Those have been suspended. The President urged that those be restored as part of a process for Chinese authorities to addressing, reaching out to and addressing the grievance of the people in Tibet," Hadley said.

Hu told Bush that the Dalai Lama should especially stop activities to "fan and mastermind" violent crimes in Tibet as well as in some regions and to sabotage the Beijing Olympics in August and accept Tibet and Taiwan as inseparable parts of China.

Tibet's government-in-exile says some 140 people have died in the crackdown on protests.